Keeping Face
by GreyLiliy
Summary: Cho Gonou is dead, but Cho Hakkai lives. Cho Hakkai is a demon.
1. Chapter 1

Inspiration struck, and I had to write. Please enjoy this new story as I work out the kinks in Raising Kouryuu.

**Keeping Face**

The steam wavered in the air slowly before dissolving much like the sugar he had added to the bronze water. The scent made Hakkai smile as the tea steeped in the cup and the little flakes that had escaped the bag danced in the water. The overall effect was calming and the demon could ignore the shouting in the background as Goku and Gojyo quarreled over whatever it was that had caught their fancy this time. Sanzo, of course was smoking and reading his newspaper.

"If whatever is bothering you is going to affect your driving tomorrow, than you had better get over it."

Or so Hakkai had thought Sanzo was reading his paper; he should have known Sanzo could multi task so efficiently. Either that or he used that newspaper liked Hakkai used his smile: just a cover to hide what he was really thinking. Only the brunette felt his method was much more effective. "Nothing is bothering me, Sanzo."

"You've been staring at that tea cup for twenty minutes. I think it's done." Sanzo flipped a page. It was all old news and the same shit they'd been reporting for the past year and a half. The world got the picture already: demons had gone crazy. Sanzo considered switching over to another newspaper just to see if anyone had anything else that was worth reading. Maybe a nice column on guns and their many uses to shut up idiots. "So either tell me about it now, like I know you're going to do anyway whether I care or not, and get it over with. Or else get over it."

Hakkai crossed his arms on the table and folded his shoulders in. Sanzo was too perceptive for his own good sometimes. While he appreciated it a little in the back of his mind, it still made Hakkai angry that he couldn't hide his lousy mood from the man. "I'm just tired."

"Is that it?" Sanzo folded the paper and set it on the table and held in the urge to shoot his gun as Goku flung a piece of fruit at Gojyo on the other side of the room. The monkey must be really pissed off to sacrifice food as a projectile weapon. Sanzo briefly wondered if he should have been paying attention to what started the fight in the first place to irritate the boy that much.

"It's the only thing I can think of." Hakkai tilted his head up to look Sanzo in the eyes. "Aren't you, sometimes?"

Sanzo snorted and leaned back. Shouts of 'Stop saying that about Sanzo!' and 'I'll say what I want' were making his ears hurt. The blonde took a swig of his own tea sitting on the table. "I'm too young to be that kind of tired."

"I think Gojyo would disagree." The demon's good eye shifted to Gojyo as he tackled Goku to the floor. Hakkai took his monocle off to clean off the lens before placing it back over his artificial eye. The man noted that Gojyo came close to actually smacking Goku pretty hard. "And you are the oldest of us."

"The monkey has us beat by a few hundred years." Sanzo stabbed his cigarette out into the tray. He watched Hakkai from the corner of his eyes, but refused to let the man know he was looking. Something was off about their driver tonight, and it wasn't the usual shit they dealt with on a daily basis. The thought pissed Sanzo off and he crossed his arms waiting for the other man's reply.

"He doesn't count. Mentally, he is the youngest." Hakkai crossed his ankles. "And he doesn't know the meaning of the word 'tired.' Or at least not this kind."

"I don't think age really matters in the long run to know this experience."

Hakkai chuckled. "You've contradicted yourself."

Sanzo snorted and kept his attention on the other two idiots in the room. "We were talking about two different things."

"You just can't admit when you're wrong, can you?" Hakkai tipped his cup with a finger and watched the tea slosh to the edge. He suppressed the urge to just smash the little cup and let the contents spill everywhere. It had been a long time since Hakkai had felt this on edge with Sanzo. "Are you just that stubborn, or just not physically capable?"

"I said I was too young to be tired."

"Yes, physically tired, but I'm pretty sure you knew to what I was referring." Hakkai watched as Goku landed a nasty hit to Gojyo's stomach. That would bruise and the self-appointed medic made a note to check it out later. "But, benefit of the doubt and all, assuming we weren't talking about the same thing, you're saying you've never felt like this?"

"Never said that." Sanzo searched in his sleeves for a pack of cigarettes. After slowly lighting a fresh Marlboro and inhaling that first breath, he let out a sigh. "I got over it."

Hakkai interlaced his fingers on the table and watched as Goku flipped Gojyo onto his back. The fights between those two all seemed to merge into a single action these days, even when they became this intense. "Well, right now I feel old and exhausted, whether or not I'm too young to feel that way."

"For someone who's exhausted, I'm surprised you still have a smile on your face." Sanzo frowned as the other man's eyes twinkled. He blew a ring of smoke into the man's face, smirked when the man didn't so much as blink. Smug bastard.

"But I have to keep smiling." Hakkai took a sip from his darkened cup. Swallowed it down, acidic taste and all while keeping his face in check. If he could smile in the face of death, rowdy driving companions and a murderous priest, then overly strong tea was nothing. "Or everyone would know I'm not what they think me to be. Well, everyone other than you and your demon eyes. They see through everything, don't they?"

"Enough to see through you." Sanzo stood and pushed in his chair with every intention of shooting the other two for the racket they were causing. He had half a mind to shoot Hakkai in the head as well. A migraine was already developing and the man had only just started with the attitude. But Sanzo just knew that he was going to do something stupid later on, too. "And what I see is a half-blind man."

"The artificial eye works perfectly, thank-you."

"Who said I was talking about eye-sight?" Sanzo blew smoke. "Keep it up and you're going to fall apart."

"Reasoning from personal experience?" Hakkai knew he was pushing things with the other man, but he had too much of a headache to care. Besides, Sanzo could see through the smile anyway. He knew that deep down Cho Hakkai was rather cruel. His smile dropped a fraction when Sanzo merely looked at him and walked towards the other two without a word. Hakkai downed the rest of his tea and considered the empty cup. "I guess that's a yes."

Goku had been watching Sanzo and Hakkai intently as they sat at the table. Hakkai wasn't looking so good at first when they had got to the inn, and Sanzo was being his usual grumpy self. The heretic could feel the tension between them thickening and it was spreading through the room like smoke along the floor. Before he knew it, Gojyo was being an ass and telling him that Sanzo should lay off Hakkai and mind his own business. He also added that Goku should stay out of it too and get his precious owner in line. Of course, Goku returned fire by saying he was worried but wouldn't say anything because Sanzo would handle it just fine. Gojyo was then further a bastard by saying Sanzo only made things worse and should back the hell off. Naturally, Goku threw a punch to defend Sanzo's honor and therefore Gojyo smacked him back.

Which, is how he now had a large lump on the back of his head from Sanzo wailing on him with that stupid fan. Life was just so unfair! Goku fights to defend Sanzo and the man thanks him by hitting him. How did that work out? "Ow! Sanzo! Why'd you do that?"

"Because you're being an idiot. Go to bed." Sanzo jammed his cigarette into an ashtray and threw his robes off his shoulders. He was going to sleep and Heavens help the moron who woke him up. He didn't want to see the faces of the other three until tomorrow even if they were dying.

"It's only ten o'clock you old geezer." Gojyo grumbled as he fished for a cigarette. Nicotine always made the headache feel better afterwards. He kept his face averted from the bastard of a priest and his pet monkey to consider Hakkai still sitting at the table. The man's smile was wavering and that was a good of enough tip off to get the man out of the room.

"Then get the hell out and don't come back." Sanzo pushed his legs under the covers. "I'm going to bed."

"Fine then, your holiness." Gojyo threw his hair out of his eyes and over his shoulder. He bowed down at the waist with a smirk. "Your humble servant shall do as you command."

"Go to hell."

"Same to you." Gojyo walked over to the table and grabbed Hakkai's arm. With a quick yank he had the man out of the chair and on his feet. "Let's go to the bar."

"Ah, alright." Hakkai allowed himself to be led out of the room and avoided the accusatory look on Sanzo's face. It read loud and clear 'those who are tired should go to bed.' Hakkai merely smiled back.

Goku watched the door fall shut after Hakkai and Gojyo had left. He sighed softly and undid the clasp to his armor and let it clink to the floor. Looking over at the lump that was Sanzo on the bed Goku striped down to his bed clothes. It was much too hot to be wearing all of that armor and extra clothing anyway. Goku was concerned about his teacher and didn't want Sanzo to get angry and not share anything, so he started his question quietly. "What's wrong with Hakkai?"

"Nothing you need to worry about." Sanzo rolled to face his back to his charge. He just wanted to go to sleep and get this day done with. "Go to bed."

"But I just wanna' know if he's going to be okay?" Goku leaned over Sanzo's side trying to see the man's face. His eyes were shut and his face was scrunched. "That's all, really."

Sanzo considered lying to the boy and just saying 'yes.' It would make things easier and he'd go away. In the end, Sanzo merely sighed and answered truthfully. Goku would know he was lying anyway, the primate. "I don't know. Go to bed."

"Okay, Sanzo." Goku yawned a little and flopped back onto the other bed. Maybe Sanzo would know once he talked to Hakkai later whether or not things would work out okay.

* * *

"Spill, what'd the monk do this time?" Gojyo spoke while nursing a beer. He watched the other bar patrons from his and Hakkai's table in the back corner. A rather busty mouse-brown headed waitress winked at him as she passed the table and he answered with a little smirk. Of course, while keeping his eyes on the brunette at his own table.

"Nothing." Hakkai blew a little air at the beads hanging from the ceiling. Watched them clink and clatter against each other. "We just had a difference of opinion."

"Looked like a fight to me."

"How so?" Hakkai downed another glass of wine, refilled it shortly after. "It was a rather civil conversation."

"Nah," Gojyo patted down his pockets looking for his lighter. His potential target had disappeared back into the kitchen. "You guys don't shout and smack each other, but you two were fighting. You're just damn quiet and subtle about it."

"That so."

"And that's why your fights freak me out." Gojyo located his lighter finally and gave it a few test flicks. "If a guy's pounding on you, you know what's what. But, when you fight like that, you don't have a single clue about what the other man is going to do. He's either going to smack you down in the head or actually jump you at random."

"I guess that could be true." Hakkai sipped his drinking thoughtfully. "But you and Sanzo at least, don't have to worry about me flying off the handle. I'd kill myself first before I hurt any of you."

"Don't say stuff like that." Gojyo watched the tip of his highlight burn between his fingers. Watched the light waver between the smoke. "Because I know you mean it."

"I think it's time that I retired, Gojyo." Hakkai stood from the bar. While he did enjoy his more serious conversations with Gojyo, the man was starting to pluck at his nerves. Maybe Sanzo did have the right idea by turning in for the night. "Have a pleasant evening."

"Hey, Hakkai."

"Yes?"

"Don't do anything stupid, okay?" Gojyo laughed a little to himself. "We all kinda like you in one piece."

"Of course." Hakkai nodded to his friend and headed outside of the little bar to walk back to the inn where their things were kept. It was a dreary evening, despite the moon being out and the stars shining. The cool breeze filtered through his hair as he walked and Hakkai breathed it in deep. The light filtering through it did very little to lift his mood as he made it back to the inn and to his room.

Hakkai walked slowly through the door and considered the blonde occupant passed out on the bed. He stared for a moment before walking over and sitting down at the edge of Sanzo's waist. He could see the priest's steady breathing and the relaxed face pressed against the sheets. It made Hakkai smile for real just a tiny bit to see the man as he should be, and it was comforting to know he wasn't the only one who wore a mask all day. "I really despise you sometimes. You always know what I'm thinking and as it turns out, I really was going to discuss this with you. But, you beat me to it and made me say such cruel things in return."

Hakkai watched Sanzo carefully to make sure the man's breathing stayed even. Sanzo wouldn't be getting the luxury of being awake for this confession. "But when I think about who I really am, the things I said weren't that cruel; they were rather tame. I'm tired of that, and this feeling itself. I hate this game, this constant pretending to be someone I'm not. But on the other hand, I hate myself even more and therefore put up with the game to keep other people from seeing. Such stupidity, really."

The demon laid down softly and curled up just a little. He nearly chuckled to himself as he imagined Sanzo's reaction had he been awake. Hakkai was sure he would have been hit on the head. "I really am falling apart, but you already knew that."

Hakkai gripped the blankets tightly in one hand before hearing a loud snore. He looked up to see Goku sprawled out, also asleep, across the other bed. The boy looked so calm and peaceful, despite the chaotic pose he was laying in. His carefree nature began to make Hakkai feel a bit bitter. Slowly, the man sat up and looked back down at Sanzo. "It seems Goku has taken my bed for the night. I guess I'll room with Gojyo then."

Sanzo waited for Hakkai's weight to lift off from the bed and the door to click shut before opening his eyes and sitting up. Sanzo ran a hand through his hair and weighed the options of lighting a cigarette and waking Goku. He decided he wanted to enjoy the quiet he had before he dealt with Hakkai tomorrow. He knew the man was going to be annoying. "Idiot."

* * *

"Stop the Jeep, Hakkai."

"Is something the matter, Sanzo?" Hakkai slowly pressed on the breaks and looked into the rearview mirror. Nothing seemed to be wrong and they were only just outside of town. What on earth could Sanzo possible want to stop for?

"Get out and walk with me."

"Sanzo?"

"Just shut up and do it." Sanzo shoved open his own door and firmly closed it. He turned swiftly to the backseat and pointed an accusing finger. "And you two morons stay here. This is going to be annoying enough without you."

"Sanzo!" Goku stood up in his seat. The monkey didn't like the tension that had just arrived not a single bit. Sanzo's eyes were a little dark and he was slightly tensed. None of these signs boded well for the young charge. "What's going on?"

"You'll find out soon enough, so sit back down."

"Fine." Goku huffed and plopped back into the seat. Sanzo usually knew what he was doing, so Goku would give him this one win. But the boy was ready to jump into action the moment it looked like trouble.

"Hey, whatever you're saying to Hakkai, you can say to me too." Gojyo glared and shouted from the back. He gripped the back of the front seat as he leaned forward to confront the monk head on.

"It doesn't concern you." Sanzo started walking towards a small grove of trees. He knew this was going to be annoying when he thought of this shit.

"The hell it doesn't!"

"Gojyo."

"Hakkai, come on. Don't side with him!" Gojyo turned to his roommate and saw his face. It clearly read that the other man's mind was made up. Gojyo censored his anger best he could so he could back down and let Hakkai have his way. "Fine, but only because _you_ told me to."

"Thank-you, Gojyo." Hakkai sighed and smiled. "I'm sure whatever it is, Sanzo knows what he's doing."

"He better."

Hakkai walked quickly away from the Jeep to catch up with the other man. Something had to be up for him to stop everything so abruptly and demand a meeting. After they were a few yards away from the Jeep and out of hearing range, Hakkai finally caught up with the other man. He watched a few green leaves break from their branches and float to the ground in front of his feet. Sanzo was watching him intently and Hakkai was reminded of the aura the man wears when he meets the Three Aspects. "What's on your mind?"

"You should make sure people are really asleep when you tell them about your problems." Sanzo lit a cigarette. "That way they can properly tell you to shut up when you ramble."

"Ah," Hakkai settled his face into a very familiar smile, though he was sure his eyes betrayed him. How dare he pretend to be asleep when Hakkai was being serious. "My mistake then."

"I'm not dealing with this shit all the way to India." Sanzo's voice was firm and he held his head just a little higher. "We're dealing with it right now."

"And how do you propose that? Meditation?" Hakkai suggested with his fake cheerful reply. "It does work so well for you and your problems. Though, I could always just continue suppressing it."

"The problem I see, is you're still having issues knowing who you are." Sanzo knocked a few ashes away from him. "Let me clear it up for you."

"Please do, I would love to hear this."

"Cho Gonou was human." Sanzo started. "Cho Gonou is dead."

"Well, I've got that part straight." Hakkai chuckled. "I think we all know that I'm Hakkai now, you did give me that name."

"Cho Hakkai is a demon." Sanzo thrust his arm out and ran his fingers down the other man's ear. He wrapped his fingers around the limiters and watched the other man's breath stop and his eyes widen. "And he needs to get over it."

"Sanzo, wait!" Hakkai barely got the first part of his plea out before the other man ripped the power limiters from his ears. Hakkai clutched at his gut as he felt the rush of power flush through his veins. He barely managed to ground out a "Why?"

"We all know those limiters don't do a damn thing against the minus wave." Sanzo watched as the man's ears grew into points and the single eye slit. He made note that the glass eye retained the round pupil in sort of a cosmic irony. Both human and demon in one, indeed. As the vines appeared across his skin Sanzo took another drag of smoke into his lungs. "So you're the same with or without these things. We won't be to another town for a few weeks, so get used to it and get over yourself."

"Sanzo." Hakkai growled and straightened to his full height. He knew those few inches over Sanzo wouldn't be intimidating, but it made him feel better. "Give those back."

"At the next town." Sanzo tossed the finished cigarette to the ground and turned his back on the other man. "And only because if I don't it'll cause a panic and I don't want to deal with it. Until then, you can stay like that and finally let it sink in you're not human anymore."

"I'm well aware of that fact." Hakkai grabbed Sanzo's shoulder and forced the man to face him again. He barely realized that he had lifted Sanzo slightly off of the ground. "There isn't a moment I'm not reminded of it."

Unfazed by Hakkai's aggression, Sanzo looked him straight in the eyes. "Clearly not or you wouldn't be having issues right now. The three of us don't give a damn if you're human or demon, so the only one who cares is you."

"So help me," Hakkai lifted the man a little higher. He would not be bullied this way. Especially not from someone he trusted. Sanzo had gone too far. "Give those back."

"No." Sanzo pulled his arm up and pushed Hakkai's arm off of his shoulder and fell the few inches back to the ground. He stuffed the limiters into the confines of his robes nestled neatly next to his gun. "You're sick of pretending to be something you're not. Now you can't pretend anymore, or at the very least not look the part."

"Sanzo." Hakkai clenched his fists and felt the claws dig into his palms. He ignored the little bits of blood that leaked out. He took a deep breath and stared at the ground before grinding out his next words. "Please, give them back."

"Get over it." Sanzo strutted back to the Jeep preparing himself to deal with the shit of the other two idiots. "Now get in the Jeep and let's get moving. We're late enough as it is."

"Sanzo." Hakkai looked up again. "You're not really serious about this are you? You've made your point."

Sanzo stopped walking and turned his head slightly back towards the other man. All of the anger had left his face and all that was left were slight traces of fear. "You're a moron, and you're not going to hurt us."

Hakkai blinked a few times before registering what the man had said. He took in a deep breath and exhaled before leaning his head back to look up at the sky. Leave it to a priest to call out your worst fears and resignations about completely certain actions. "Are you sure about that?"

"Positive," Sanzo reached for a cigarette and lit it slowly. After a few puffs he called back to the demon behind him. "Now get in the stupid Jeep and let's move. I already told you that we're late and if it gets any later I'm shooting you in the head for being such a moron and a pain in my ass."

"Yes," Hakkai started to follow the other man and tried to block the new sensations smashing into his heightened senses. He arranged himself for the reaction from the others as he walked. He was doubtless that it was going to cause a fuss and merely put Sanzo and himself into an even worse mood. "Yes, of course."

"And Hakkai."

"Yes, Sanzo?"

"It's nice to see your real face for a change." Sanzo smirked. "Keep it up."

"You're such an incorrigible bastard." Hakkai looked down at his hands and studied the red vines as they snaked their way across his body. It was going to be a long week, and he merely prayed Gojyo didn't kill Sanzo.

"Move your ass, you're so damn slow for a demon."

If Hakkai didn't do it first.


	2. Chapter 2

Written to _The Unforgiven_ by Metallica and _Miss Murder_ by DECEMBERUNDERGROUND.

**Chapter 2**

Goku was trying to remain calm in the back seat of the Jeep but Gojyo was being fidgety and being a pain moving around so much. Goku did his best to not look over at Sanzo and Hakkai, even with Gojyo distracting him it was still hard. If he did, he was sure that he'd do something and go over there, but that would just make the both of them even more upset. So Goku sat and tried not to go find out what was going on. He wished they would hurry up!

"Damn," Gojyo groaned and flicked hair out of his eyes. "I hate not knowing what they're talking about."

Goku huffed and shook his hair out. He didn't like the idea of it either. The air was much too tense for this situation and there was something floating in the wind. "Yeah, well, it's not like we can do anything about it."

"I should go out there."

"Hakkai'll get angry." Goku frowned. "Sanzo too. So we should just stay here."

"I still don't like it."

Gojyo started mumbling to himself at this point and fishing around for his cigarettes. Goku leaned his head back and tried to ignore the stupid water sprite when he felt _it_. The force of the demon energy that had suddenly appeared was so intense it forced him to sit up and look around. The energy was coming from where Sanzo was, but all he could see over there was Hakkai.

Hakkai, who had pointed ears sticking out of the sides of his head and was clutching his sides.

"What the hell was that?" Gojyo smacked Goku in the leg after the boy had jabbed him in the side with his hurry to get up. "Where's the fire?"

"Hakkai took his limiters off." Goku pointed out into the distance towards Sanzo. They were too far away to see exactly what was happening, but it looked like Hakkai had grabbed Sanzo by the shoulders for a moment before they started walking again. "They're both heading this way now."

"He did what?" Gojyo leaned over the side of the seat to see the damn priest strutting towards the car. Behind him, Hakkai was walking slightly slower while keeping his head down. Something was very wrong and Gojyo didn't like the feeling that was creeping up his spine. "What the hell happened?"

"I don't know. But didn't you feel that when they came off? There was so much power." Goku kept his eyes locked on Hakkai behind Sanzo. Hakkai was his friend, and he trusted him, but that still didn't erase the memories. Hakkai was scary.

"I felt it a little, but not nearly to that extent." Gojyo ran his hand through his hair and felt the chills down his back increase as unwanted memories started filling his head. He remembered all too well what Hakkai was capable of in this state. But what could make him transform like that? Hakkai only took his limiters off as an absolute last resort. He hated to admit it, but it worried him. "Shit."

Sanzo looked up from his cigarette to see the other two morons already gaping like fishes. The man rolled his eyes and tossed his new cigarette to the ground and used his foot to put it out. Sanzo could still hear Hakkai walking slow as hell behind him and he picked up his own pace. When the monk reached the Jeep he was greeted by a worried face and an angry face. He knew this was going to be a bad day when he got out of bed this morning. "What are you two staring at?"

"Sanzo!" Goku shouted and pointed back to Hakkai who had just caught up with the monk. "What happened? Are you two okay?"

"Nothing happened." Sanzo yanked open the door and sat his rump in the seat. The best way to deal with an annoyance was to ignore it. "Sit down and shut the hell up. Let's go."

"Why you bastard." Gojyo jumped a little when he heard the click of a second door shut. The taboo child had been so busy glaring at the priest he didn't even notice the other man take his seat behind the wheel. The man, demon, behind the wheel was tense and hadn't greeted him or Goku yet. "Hakkai?"

"It's nothing." Hakkai tried to smile as he looked at his friend in the rearview mirror, but he just couldn't seem to pull it off. He blamed the fangs and gave Sanzo a scathing look. "I just, felt like a change."

"Bullshit." Gojyo thrust a finger towards the bastard sitting next to his friend. The damn priest was sitting so high and mighty while Hakkai was clearly suffering about this. Gojyo wouldn't forgive him. "He did this, didn't he?"

"Sanzo may, have suggested it." Hakkai could feel a crueler smile stretching across his face. He controlled the urge to lick his teeth. "But, what's done is done."

"And you're okay with it?"

"Yes, Gojyo." So it was a lie. It wouldn't be the first, or the last. Hakkai chuckled to himself. "It's perfectly alright."

Goku was staring at Hakkai. It was making the man very uncomfortable and he had never wanted to start the Jeep so badly. He shoved his eyes to the front and tried to ignore that golden gaze glued to his back. Hakkai gunned the engine and shoved the gear into drive just to release some of his frustration, but still felt a little guilty when he heard Gojyo slam into the seat. Goku's stare continued undisrupted and it caused him to sigh. "Is something the matter, Goku?"

Goku shook his head and in his embarrassment, laughed. He swallowed and sat back down against the seat. Hakkai was still Hakkai, so nothing to worry about. "Sorry, it's just the last time I saw you like this, you were, you know."

"Yes," Hakkai smiled softly. "If I remember correctly, you said you liked the normal me better."

"I didn't mean it quite like that." Goku averted his eyes away from the other man and let them fall onto Sanzo. He squinted a bit before lifting a corner of his robe. There were little holes littering the fabric with jagged edges. "Sanzo, is your robe ripped?"

"Hakkai forgot he had claws." Sanzo closed his eyes and leaned his head back. He had every intention of sleeping. "Now shut the hell up, I'm going to sleep."

"Already?" Gojyo kicked Sanzo's seat and crossed his arms. He'd just talk to Hakkai about it in private later. There was no way Hakkai was _okay_ with this. "You got us up at the crack of dawn so you could sleep in the damn Jeep? You damn tightass."

Hakkai sighed to himself and tried to keep his claws from scratching the steering wheel. Knowing Sanzo's stubbornness he'd have to adjust during the week for the added length of his nails. Though, it was his increased senses bothering him at the moment. He should have known Gojyo would be upset, and being able to feel his body temperature rise slightly from the heated anger wasn't helping. "Sanzo was kept up late, so please just drop it Gojyo."

Gojyo frowned and sat down in his seat without another word. Hakkai was supposed to be _his_ friend, so why was he siding with the monk for? Gojyo jammed a cigarette into his mouth and lit it. At least nicotine was a friend that never let him down.

"Stop looking so damned concerned and let the bastard sulk already." Sanzo didn't even bother opening his eyes. He knew exactly what the red-head was doing.

Hakkai flinched as he was caught in mid-comfort and forced his smile to stay. Spite was a powerful motivator. "Whatever do you mean?"

"Like you don't know." Sanzo leaned his head back against the seat and closed his eyes. It was about time he deserved a little sleep. "Just keep driving."

"Of course."

* * *

"Hakkai didn't hurt you did he?"

Sanzo lowered the paper he was reading down a notch and stared at the monkey standing before him. Goku had developed some semblance of a serious look on his face and Sanzo nearly growled to himself. The monk should have seen this coming when Gojyo dragged Hakkai off to who knows where. "Moron. Of course not, it's Hakkai."

"Yeah, I know that." Goku frowned. He was trying to be serious! Sanzo continued to partially ignore him in favor of putting his paper back up. One of these days Goku was just going to burn those things. Sanzo probably didn't even read it. "I know Hakkai wouldn't do anything on purpose, but maybe on accident."

"What the hell are you getting at?"

"I saw him holding you up from the Jeep when his limiters first came off." Goku sat down next to Sanzo. He didn't want to let his friend know, but Goku was pretty freaked when Hakkai had threatened Sanzo. Goku didn't need to hear the conversation to know that's what had happened. "He was angry and ripped through your robes. He might not know his own strength yet, and I was worried."

"Don't be."

"But."

"I said," Sanzo folded the paper and placed it to his side. He put a hand on the boy's head and hoped he appreciated this one act of kindness for the year. "Don't worry. Hakkai's not crazy, out of control or bloodthirsty."

Goku nodded and just enjoyed the warmth of the contact. It wasn't often Sanzo was outwardly comforting. Actually, it happened once in a year more or less, but he guessed it had something to do with the fact Hakkai was the cause of the worry this time. "You're sure nothing will happen?"

"I doubt it," Sanzo left Goku's head for his lighter. The smell of the smoke brought a slight smile to his face. "And if he does, I'll shoot him in the legs."

Part of Goku wanted to laugh at that statement, the other half was frightened by the fact he knew Sanzo wasn't kidding. Goku stretched his legs out in front of him and looked at the light glinting on his shoe buckle. "And then?"

"Throw him in the Jeep and keep going." Sanzo inhaled his lovely cigarette and just breathed it in. The exhale was just as pleasurable and Sanzo wondered if things would be getting next to normal anytime soon. The hungry part of him wondered when the hell Hakkai was going to come back with the damn water sprite. Something was nagging at him that leaving them alone right now was a bad idea. "What else?"

"So you'd kill me if I went crazy, but not Hakkai?" Goku snorted. "That doesn't seem very fair."

"Hakkai knows how to cook."

That time, Goku did laugh. Sanzo did have his moments, and now Goku was feeling much more relieved. He really didn't have anything to worry about, whether Hakkai was scary or not. Goku scratched his nose as his laugher calmed down a bit. "Yeah, he sure does."

"Good," Sanzo stood and stretched out a bit. He tried to pull a crick out of his spine but it refused to budge. He'd have to make Hakkai work it out later; chi healing did wonders for sore muscles. Assuming the man had gotten used to claws by now. Sanzo didn't have a need for another scar. "Now that's settled, let's see if we can't find those other two morons and get something cooking.

"Yeah! I'm starving!"

"Shut up." Sanzo started walking towards the little fire they had made for cooking. It crackled and crinkled neatly, but wasn't nearly big enough to cook over. "Get some firewood so this is hot when Hakkai comes back."

"Sure," Goku pulled himself off the ground and brushed the dirt off his pants. He cracked his back and stretched briefly before putting his weight on his heels. "I just hope he's good enough to make some food. He wasn't looking too good."

"I don't give a damn if he's dying." Sanzo frowned as his stomach let out a tiny rumble. At least Goku didn't hear it. Sanzo frowned when he realized the monkey probably did but was just ignoring it. Stupid enhanced demon senses. "The man's cooking because I ain't touching a damn thing that water sprite makes."

Goku grinned. "You could always make something then?"

"You want to die?"

"Not yet, thank-you." Goku turned away from Sanzo and cocked his head. "I want to see if Hakkai can do it."

"Do what?"

"Get over it." Goku took a few steps. "Control himself."

"And why the hell is that?" Sanzo took a slow drag and watched the almost-man in front of him.

"Because," Goku paused. "Then maybe I can, too."

Sanzo considered what Goku had said for a few moments before tossing his cigarette away. He walked over to a stump to find a good place to sit and wait for their cook. "We'll see, now get the firewood."

"Yes, Sanzo." Goku shook his head a bit to pull out of the slightly depressed mood. He had been doing so well for the past few minutes, too. "The faster I get the fire going, the faster Hakkai can cook, right?"

"Just go do it."

"Right, right."

Sanzo watched Goku run off into the woods and just had to wonder: could Goku do it too? The priest snorted and watched the fire. They wouldn't be trying that one anytime soon. Just dealing with Hakkai was enough trouble on its own.

* * *

"Why are you really doing this, Hakkai?" Gojyo had finally dragged Hakkai away from the group and planned to get to the bottom of this little fiasco once and for all. "Man, you hate taking off your limiters."

"That's because I usually have a hard time controlling myself and it's usually for a fight." Hakkai shifted his weight a bit and studied Gojyo. He could tell this was going to take some convincing work to get his friend to back off a little. "Sanzo assures me I'll be fine. It's good practice regardless."

"And Sanzo knows you better than you do?" Gojyo watched Hakkai shove his hair behind his shoulder. "He knows you better than me?"

"So he seems to believe." Hakkai sighed and tried to shove his hair back again. He had forgotten what a pain long hair could be. "In any case, he's not giving my limiters back. I'd have to physically take them from him to get them back and that would result in him getting hurt."

"He'd shoot you for saying that one that one." Gojyo sniffed and rubbed his arm a little. It was getting cold. "What kind of a friend is that?"

"Yes, well, even with that, he has to admit the strength difference is immense." Hakkai listened in the woods for the sounds of the animals about. He was slowly getting used to his enhanced hearing and other senses. "He'd put up a fight, and I don't know my limitations yet."

"Would serve the bastard right if you ask me." Gojyo growled and furiously lit a Hi-Lite. He needed to do something with his hands. "Are you sure you agreed to this? If you won't take him, I will."

"I appreciate your efforts, Gojyo." Hakkai held a hand to his head. A slight pain was nagging at his temples. "I really do, but I'll be fine."

"You don't look like you're going to be fine." Gojyo slammed his fist into a palm. "Stop lying to me and tell me how you really feel about all of this!"

"Can't you just drop it, Gojyo?" Hakkai crossed his arms and leaned up against a tree. Gojyo had been nagging him for all this time and he still couldn't take a hint: Hakkai wasn't talking. "Just leave it be."

"No," Gojyo slammed a foot down. "I'm not going to let it go when my friend is so hurt over this. I won't forgive him."

"What exactly is your problem, Gojyo?" Hakkai had plenty of time to think about his situation, and he wasn't liking what he was seeing. Gojyo was much too upset over all of this. Even Hakkai had calmed down from his original anger after realizing he still felt pretty much the same. It was the others that were reacting differently. First Goku and his staring, and now Gojyo.

"I don't like seeing you like this," Gojyo dropped his voice and his arms to his sides. "It doesn't suit you."

"Being a demon?" Hakkai narrowed his eyes slightly. "Is that what you mean?"

"No, that's not what I mean." Gojyo ran a hand through his hair. "You know I don't care about shit like that."

"Then why are you so upset?" Hakkai stopped talking and then laughed. Life was just so implausibly amusing some times. "Ha, what do you know. Sanzo was wrong."

"What?" Gojyo blinked as Hakkai plastered a familiar, fake, friendly smile on his face. Somehow it just seemed wrong when you added fangs to it.

"He said that the only one who cared if I was a demon or not was me." Hakkai glared and dropped his smile. There was no need for it. "Clearly, he was wrong."

Gojyo was stunned as he watched Hakkai turn his back on him. The demon was walking away from him. "Hey, Hakkai."

"I have to make dinner." Hakkai continued walking, even if it did hurt a little to leave Gojyo behind. He was just so frustrated all of a sudden, and he was experiencing a terrible headache. "Just drop it."

Gojyo stood by himself in the woods and watched the other man's retreating back. He had screwed up big time, and not even the cigarettes seemed to help anymore.

* * *

"Took you long enough." Sanzo continued to watch the smoke. "Goku's getting firewood and I'm hungry."

"Can you not be a bastard for five minutes?"

"Not possible." Sanzo licked his teeth and let out a breath. "Nice to hear you cursing, but to the point now. How's the cockroach taking everything?"

"He's angry," Hakkai felt himself clenching his fist and relaxed it. "I don't want to talk about it."

"Suit yourself." Sanzo raised an eyebrow and looked behind the demon in front of him. "Where is he anyway?"

"I doubt he comes back any time soon. He needs it to think."

"That so."

"Do you want sukiyaki tonight, or soup?"

"Whatever you make is fine." Sanzo ignored the quick change of topic. He'd find out sooner or later what it was about, he always did for some reason. Sanzo watched the last of the ashes fall from his Marlboro. It was always sad to see one end.

"Can you make stew?" Goku grinned as he pushed through a bush. He tossed the pile of wood he had gathered towards the fire and then turned back to Hakkai. He tried his best not to let the slit eyes and narrowed face bother him. "Yours is always really, really good."

"I guess I could make stew if that's what you want, Goku."

"Yay!"

"Now he'll never shut up." Sanzo sighed as Goku danced about in joy about the coming stew.

"At least one of us is happy." Hakkai shook his head and headed over to the pack. He looked down and noticed the canteen was empty. You couldn't make stew without water, well one could try. "Goku, could you do me a favor and get some water? I think there's a stream a bit that way."

"Kay!" Goku dashed over to grab the canteen from Hakkai quickly and flinched when the man's claw brushed his wrist. "Ouch."

Hakkai looked down a bit at the tiny scrape of blood on his nail. It was just a drop but Hakkai could smell it like it was a hundred drops. "Sorry."

"It's okay." Goku nodded and ran away from camp. The faster he got the water the faster Hakkai could make stew! The cut was already forgotten.

"It's just a scratch." Sanzo looked up at the man who had frozen in place. "He's fine and at least now he's gone."

"Yes, but if it had been you it would have been deeper and not fine, now wouldn't it?" Hakkai growled and wiped his hand on his pants. He should be able to handle himself better than this.

"I'm not that weak." Sanzo tapped his Marlboro case against his leg for a new stick. This whole thing was making him smoke more than usual.

Hakkai shook his head and placed the pot next to the fire, as he neared the other man he noticed something in the relative quiet of the area. He had heard it from the others before, but it was never quiet enough to listen to Sanzo's. "I can hear your heart beat."

Sanzo merely turned his eyes to look at the man. "Your point?"

"It's soothing," Hakkai sat down next to his friend. "It's very calm. Gojyo and Goku's beat much too quickly."

"They get too worked up over every little damn thing."

"But at least they distract me."

"From what?" Sanzo nursed his cigarette slowly. He wanted to make it last as long as possible this time. "And don't think I'm letting you listen to my heartbeat all the time. It's creepy, you damn bastard."

"Don't worry, I won't put you in a position to have to shoot me." Hakkai smiled just a little. "Then no one would take care of you three."

"Answer the question." Sanzo propped up a knee so he could lean on it.

"From hearing my own heartbeat." Hakkai leaned his head back and watched the stars. There were hundreds, no thousands of them shining up there. Insignificant little dots that littered what would have been a perfectly black sky. "It pumps loudly and echoes in my ears like a drum."

"At least it's a pulse."

"Yes," Hakkai leaned over to pick up a stick from the ground. He flicked at the bark with his claws and watched the pieces break off. Frowned when he pushed too hard and the twig snapped.

"No one wants to hear it stop."

Hakkai stopped at that statement. He couldn't have heard it right. "Is that so, Sanzo?"

"If I have to repeat myself, I will shoot you." Sanzo growled. His stomach followed.

Hakkai laughed.

"Shut up!"

"I'm sorry." Hakkai couldn't stop the grin as Sanzo flushed slightly. "You weren't kidding when you said you were hungry, were you?"

"Fix. Dinner. Now."

"Yes, yes." Hakkai shook his head and returned to the pack of food. He'd have to chop all the food before Goku got back. "Whatever you say."

"Damn straight."


	3. Chapter 3

Because I like letting the readers of Raising Kouryuu suffer waiting for their own update. Until then faithful readers, enjoy part 3 of Keeping Face! Yay for angst.

**Chapter 3**

"About time you showed up!" Goku yawned a bit as he packed up his blankets. He fumbled a little when he tried to stuff them in the back, but eventually shoved them in. There had to be an easier way to pack blankets. "Where have you been all night?"

"Yes, we've been worried." Hakkai lingered for a moment before setting the dish on the fire. Gojyo had been missing since their fight the other day. Hakkai hadn't managed to get a wink of sleep in the meantime and he suspected neither did his grouchy companion. He didn't think Sanzo cared whether or not Gojyo was okay, but he had a feeling that Hakkai having stared at the man all night had unnerved him. Good. "Haven't we, Sanzo?"

"Speak for yourself." Sanzo flipped the page of his paper. He had already read it, but one never got tired of a good article. At the very least it got his mind off of how annoying their damn driver was being. Sanzo took a sip of his coffee. That damned demon had kept him up with those glowing green eyes all night. Well, at least Sanzo could sleep in the Jeep. He flipped the page of his paper to indulge in the comics section. "The water sprite's a big boy, he can take care of himself."

"So nice to know you care." Gojyo stifled the yawn into the back of his hand. Sleeping at some point may have been a good idea. But for some reason he just couldn't get that hurt look from Hakkai's face out of his head. It's hard to sleep with all that guilt smashing your head in worse than the rocks beneath it. At least he had a Jeep drive to look foreword to. Maybe the monkey would be kind and let him catch up on his much needed sleep. It usually wasn't good to apologize when you're half passing out. Or hungry. "What're you makin' for breakfast, Hakkai?"

"Nothing special, Gojyo." The other man looked horrible. Hakkai nearly grimaced as he spotted the bags around Gojyo's ruby-red eyes and the greasy look his hair was acquiring. He was pale too and lacking his confident stance. Hakkai started feeling the stabs of blame creeping around his heart; maybe he had been too hard on the man. A talk was probably necessary to fix things between the lot of them whether he wanted to or not. Hakkai looked to Sanzo, who was still fiddling with his paper, and wondered if he had time to get it over with now. "It should be done soon."

"Hey, the eggs are burning."

Hakkai broke from his thoughts when Goku tapped him on the shoulder. The eggs had turned a lovely shade of brown and were beginning to smoke. The fact he was that unobservant at the moment was downright infuriating when combined with the lack of sleep. Hakkai growled at his mistake and yanked the pan back with a little more force than he had originally intended. He was lucky he hadn't bent the pan when he smacked it down on a rock to cool. The meal was ruined, but he was sure Goku would eat it anyway. "My fault, I seem to have spaced out. Is something wrong?"

"No, nothing." Goku laughed a little nervously and held his plate out. The boy tried to play it cool despite having been staring at the demon a little too intensely a moment ago. The man had cracked the rock under the pan and Goku didn't know to be impressed or worried. Hakkai's eyes narrowed slightly and Goku forced a small laugh to appease his cook. "It still looks good and I'm hungry! I should take Sanzo his part too while I'm at it."

After the monkey skipped off to pester his master about the monk's share of the meal, a certain red-head lit a new cigarette. After a quick nicotine pick-me-up, Gojyo leaned down next to his friend and whispered in that now elongated ear. "You alright? You were pretty mad at those eggs."

"Was I?" Hakkai tapped the heated edge of the pan with his claws and sighed. He was just so restless for some reason. And a headache had been buzzing in his ears since yesterday and that had been driving him crazy. Hakkai shook his hair out a little and snuck a glance at his other two friends. Goku was waving his hands about and trying to get Sanzo's attention. He really should apologize to Goku for giving him burnt food later. Ah well, as long as he ate it. He felt a tap on his shoulder and turned back to Gojyo. "I'm sorry, what was that?"

"You growled." _And it was pretty scary, too._ Even though the last thought was unspoken, Gojyo still swallowed a little when his friend tensed. Gojyo tried to convince himself that it didn't make him nervous on some base level. Shit, Gojyo hung out with demons all the time in his day, so why did the thought of Hakkai with fangs and claws set him so on edge? "Or did you not notice?"

"I guess I didn't." Hakkai kept his focus on a single point. Maybe instead of waiting a bit to talk things out he could con Sanzo into letting them sleep a few more hours. Hakkai scrapped the last of the eggs off the pan and decided to just put the pan away. He wasn't focused enough right now to handle eggs or cleaning. "I'll be more careful in the future."

"Sure," Hakkai was looking a little ragged around the edges. Unfortunately, Gojyo couldn't tell if this was normal for Hakkai and the demon features were revealing what his smile usually hid, or if his friend was really about to snap. "You sure you're okay? I mean, I can sacrifice myself to beg for a few hours time from ol' Mr. Holy over there."

A rustling of newspaper drew everyone's attention to Sanzo as he stood up and glared at everyone else and his burnt eggs. Unceremoniously dumping his food onto Goku's plate he successfully interrupted the water sprite from putting his life in further danger. Sanzo looked at Hakkai with his most deadpan expression and put what they were all thinking out onto the table. "Are you well enough to drive or do I have to kill you?"

Well, it wasn't quite what everyone had been thinking, but close enough. Hakkai sighed and ran a hand through his hair. He winced a little when a claw caught on a knot near the end. The demon did his best not to throw a fit. "It might be the latter. Do make it quick, I have no tolerance for pain."

Gojyo coughed before that conversation could turn into a fight. Hakkai might have been joking, but the twitch Sanzo was developing was worrisome. "Oh get off his back, o' illustrious one. He's tired, it's not a crime."

"He wouldn't be tired if a certain moron had come back to camp last night." Sanzo dug a cigarette from his back pocket. "Or did you enjoy sleeping in the dirt like a cockroach?"

"Oh, like you're one to talk." Gojyo shoved an accusing finger in the air. "It's your fault all this happened in the first place."

"Get bent." Sanzo felt sweet relief as he lit his fifth cigarette of the morning. He smirked when Gojyo's temper began flaring up. "You're the one making a fuss."

"Why you." Gojyo felt a hand clamp on his shoulder and he turned to look at a pair of angry green eyes. He swallowed a little. "Hakkai?"

"I think that's enough for this morning." Hakkai took a clawed hand to his temple and rubbed just underneath the vine pattern. "I have a headache and I'd like to just get to driving without all the arguing this morning."

"See? Hakkai's got the right idea, stupid water sprite." Sanzo smirked.

"That goes for you, too." Hakkai turned his eyes to Sanzo and watched the man flinch slightly. "You're just as bad at starting fights and arguments. I really don't want to deal with this today, so please."

"Whatever." The priest took a nasty drag on his Marlboro and leaned against the tree to his back.

Gojyo almost released the laughter that was threatening to break free, but his fear of angering his roommate overpowered the urge. He instead decided to agree with his friend, but it was then that he noticed something very vital missing. "Speaking of driving, has anyone seen the fur ball lately?"

Goku hummed a bit as he attempted to swallow the last of the eggs from Sanzo's plate. Sometimes it was best to just ignore the other three when they got into heated discussions. It's not like his input would have solved anything. He forced another bite of burnt egg down his throat. But it seemed to be over for now, and the cockroach did have a point. "Gojyo's right, I haven't seen Jeep for a while either."

"He went off by himself sometime last night." Hakkai stood slowly holding the dirty kitchen equipment. Jeep had been acting weird around him since he first turned back into a dragon. It wasn't like he was avoiding, Hakkai. No, the little dragon was indeed avoiding the entire group. Maybe he could just feel the tension that had developed overnight between the four of them. Hakkai was sure that was all it was, nothing more. "I'm sure he'll be back soon."

Sanzo rolled his eyes and once again realized if you wanted something done you had to do it yourself. At the rate his demons were going they'd be leaving sometime next month. "Hey, water-sprite."

"What?" Gojyo mumbled around his cigarette. "Does his highness need his lowly servant?"

"Shut up and go find the fur ball."

"Why me?" Gojyo spat out and turned back to face the priest again. You could never be too tired for a rumble. "I just got back. Make the monkey do it."

"Goku, is as of now filling water bottles." Sanzo watched as Goku stopped in mid-chew and looked up at his keeper. He threw his stub of a cigarette on the ground close to the boy's foot and snuffed it out with his heel and a simple glare sent the boy running for the canteens and into the woods. At least he knew when not to argue. "So that leaves you."

"I can look for Jeep, Sanzo." Hakkai added in softly as he set the pans in a small pile. He'd have to keep them separate so that he could wash them later. Hakkai should have known the slight moment of peace was too good to be true. "He is my pet."

"You," Sanzo paused and waited for the eye contact. He wanted Hakkai's full attention for this next command. Only once he had that mismatched set locked with his, did he continue. "Are sleeping."

"I'm fine, I assure."

"Not a request."

"Sanzo, you're being unreasonable."

"We're not driving with someone half-asleep. Go take a nap." Sanzo reached for another Marlboro and smirked. "Gojyo can find the dragon just fine."

"Fine." Gojyo made a sharp turn and started walking back to where he came from. He didn't like taking orders, but if it meant Hakkai could take a nap, he could live with it. "I'll find the stupid dragon."

Hakkai glared at Sanzo as he waited for Gojyo to start thrashing through the bush. As the cries of "where are you stupid dragon?" faded did he reprimand Sanzo. The last thing he needed was Gojyo holding a censure session over their leader's head. "That was uncalled for."

"Why aren't you sleeping?" Another Marlboro was lit and placed snugly between a pair of chapped lips. Sanzo briefly wondered if he had enough to last until they reached a town.

"Gojyo's having a hard time adjusting to this situation and he's already convinced you threatened me into this arrangement." Hakkai strode towards Sanzo a few steps. "It wouldn't kill you to lay off the arguments for a few hours."

"He's the one starting them." Sanzo huffed and watched the ashes flick from the end of the stick. "Now why aren't you sleeping?"

Hakkai threw his arms up. "You are absolutely impossible. You must be getting one heck of a kick out of this. Is this some sort of fun way to relieve your own boredom?"

"What's got you so angry?" The priest took a slow drag and considered his comrade. Hakkai's eyes held slight bags beneath them and he was looking, for lack of a better word, 'twitchy.' "It's not like we've been doing anything we haven't for the past four years."

Hakkai took a deep breath and let it out slowly. Maybe he was overreacting with Sanzo; he had been a bit short with Gojyo the other day too. "My head hurts and I just feel restless for some reason."

"So you're taking out frustrations on us." Sanzo sighed. He was tempted to give up a tiny prayer to make sure a headache was Hakkai's only problem. Or they were all screwed over. "Peachy. Go to bed."

Hakkai rolled his eyes and headed towards his rolled bed mat. There was just no dealing with that man at times. "Yes, Master. I shall do as you command."

"Hey, knock that shit out." The man growled in return. "You sound like that moron of a water sprite."

Hakkai didn't even bother with a response and threw himself to the ground. He was going to sleep and if anything woke him up they'd find themselves ripped in two. Hakkai tried not to let the fact that notion brought a smile to his face bother him.

* * *

Sleep did not come easily for Hakkai, despite the generous offer and amount of effort. A hour or two at most was all he could manage on such short notice. Too much information drilling through his brain combined with an ever growing headache and sense of nervousness did little for his relaxation. Hakkai rolled over on his mat to consider Sanzo as he sat in place. A tiny smile crept to his face as he watched the priest sleep. From the position it was clear the man hadn't planned on dozing off and his head lolled slightly to the side with the even breathing. It was quiet enough in the clearing that he could almost hear the steady heart beat gently from his spot across the field.

Despite his exhaustion, Hakkai pulled himself up on his hands and knees to sit up. He'd gone days without sleep before, so this shouldn't really be a problem. Hakkai rubbed his nose carefully, the last thing he needed was to cut his face, and stood up. As he walked towards his blonde companion he could hear and smell everything more clearly his senses woke up. Hakkai wasn't sure if his strengthened nose and hearing was adding to the ever growing headache and irritation he was feeling, but it was a good enough thing to blame at the moment. Hakkai frowned as a particularly loud screech from a bird echoed in his ears.

Hakkai plopped down in the dirt next to Sanzo, not really caring if he woke the other man, and leaned back onto the tree. His shoulder leant against the priest's and Hakkai closed his eyes. If he focused on that steady beating from Sanzo's chest, he could ignore the buzzing of insects and the squawking birds that seemed to torment him with their screeching and low rumbles. It may have been perverse, Hakkai thought as he tilted his head, but the smell of Sanzo's hair was also much more pleasant than the stench coming from the rotting leaves and the feces from random critters. Hakkai could barely comprehend how most demons could put up with these constant sensations twenty-four hours a day. Sanzo's hair smelled, well, like Sanzo, actually. It was a hard scent to place when it was dirty, but it was still better than the rest of the things around them.

"Smelling my hair is falling under the same category as listening to my heart, Hakkai."

Hakkai jerked a bit as he realized he had been caught. He laughed nervously and tried to put a smile on his face to cover his embarrassment. The demon should have been in better control of his actions. New sensations or not. "Ah, I'll remember that Sanzo."

"Then scoot over." Sanzo held back the yawn that was pushing at his mouth and instead put that energy into shoving at Hakkai's shoulder. "It's too hot as it is."

Hakkai chuckled slightly as he shifted over a few inches. The priest was always a little grumpy when he woke up. "Have a good nap, Sanzo?"

The yawn won out and the blonde had to delay his response for a brief moment. The other man looked entirely too smug when he looked up. "Shut up."

"I haven't said anything yet." Hakkai shrugged with a smirk.

"You're thinking it."

"Guilty." Hakkai put both of his hands in front of him and interlocked his fingers for a good stretch. He cracked his neck a little afterwards and looked up to a welcome surprise. "Oh, Jeep."

"Looks like the water sprite really is worthless." Sanzo rolled his eyes and decided to just sit back and wait for Gojyo to complain about not being able to find the dragon.

"Jeep, Gojyo's been looking everywhere for you." Hakkai reached his arms out for the tiny creature and welcomed him into his lap. "Well, I think he is."

Sanzo watched as a genuine smile fell on Hakkai's face and felt it safe to reach for a cigarette. The little dragon cooed and Sanzo enjoyed watching the smoke linger in the air in front of his face. It was a rather peaceful morning, all things considered. Sanzo was about to close his eyes again and enjoy the peace and quiet, that only occurred when the monkey and cockroach went out to play, when he heard the squeal. Sanzo looked up to see a white blur fly over him and curl into his hip, fur sticking out on end. The little dragon was hissing quietly, wings tense, and Sanzo shifted his eyes to the man beside him.

Hakkai stared blankly at the blood sitting on his claws and could feel his chest tightening. He had hurt Jeep. He didn't mean to, but it had happened. Nothing more than not paying attention and petting harder than necessary. He had only been startled for a moment by that bird call in the background. But that was all it had took. A twitch of the hand. "I'm."

"Hakkai?" Sanzo kept his eyes on the demon beside him while risking getting bitten to check the dragon with his hand. A quick check and a peak out the corner of his eye proved that it was merely a shallow cut on the back of the neck. Nothing that wouldn't heal on its own in a day or two, but Hakkai was another story. His eyes were dilated and the whites of his eyes were expanded and fixated on the blood on his hands. "Jeep's fine, Hakkai."

The demon ripped his eyes from his hand to stare into a set of solid violet eyes. Despite the ground in reality, he still couldn't get the pained cry from his dear friend out of his head. It had been quick, but it kept repeating in his head. "I hurt Jeep."

Sanzo was about to backhand the little dragon himself if it wouldn't stop fidgeting and hissing. It was not helping the situation, but neither would hurting the thing for real. Sanzo sucked in a breath through his teeth to calm down a bit before confronting Hakkai. "Jeep's fine, it was an accident. Calm down."

"But." Hakkai stuttered and looked down at the angry red eyes. "He's bleeding."

Sanzo rolled his eyes and grabbed a hold of Hakkai's hands to give the man something else to react to. Physical contact did wonders for distracting the mind, even if it was just a simple touch. Hakkai twitched at the contact and Sanzo almost growled himself. He did not get paid enough to deal with all this shit. "Hakkai, look at me. Right now."

"Sanzo." Hakkai's voice was quiet. Sanzo was touching his hands. The holy monk was touching his blood stained hands.

"Jeep is fine." Sanzo tightened his grip when the other man tried to pull them away. It was as if Hakkai was repulsed that Sanzo was touching him. The priest didn't have time to wonder just what that meant, but he could see he finally had the man's attention. "It wasn't on purpose. Now calm the hell down."

Hakkai forced his breathing to even out as he listened to Sanzo's voice. It was so soothing sounding, and had a nice ring to it when he wanted it to have one. Sanzo was right, it was an accident and it was just like with Goku earlier. He was fine, and Jeep would be alright. It was just a scratch. Just a scratch. Hakkai tried to ignore the fact Sanzo was still holding his hands. "Alright. I'm okay."

"Good." Sanzo let out a breath as he watched Hakkai's eyes come back into focus. One crisis avoided for the day, and luckily Hakkai came around rather quickly.

"Woah, am I interrupting?" Gojyo drawled out as he stared at the two men before him. He spends three hours looking for a dragon, with no success, and these two chill out and relax all cozy like. It sort of made the man bitter inside knowing Sanzo was there for Hakkai in ways Gojyo couldn't seem to manage. "Don't take me wrong, but it's kinda' creepy with you two holding hands."

It was too much to ask to have a peaceful day, wasn't it? Sanzo growled and let go of Hakkai's hands in a huff and quickly crossed his arms in front of his chest. "Don't even start."

"So what was going on." Gojyo narrowed his eyes in slight suspicion. Hakkai was in a delicate state of mind right now and the monk had screwed with his head enough as it is.

"Just an accident, Gojyo." Hakkai smiled and discretely rubbed the blood off of his hands and onto his sleeve. "Sanzo was helping me calm down a bit. I'm afraid I overreacted again, much like this morning."

"But you're okay now, right?" Goku took this time to step forward. He had entered the clearing soon after Gojyo, but decided to keep quiet. There was just something tense in the atmosphere, and it wasn't the kind you just let play out. Goku knew that this type of tension needed to be stopped and broken at all costs. "You were kinda' scary earlier."

"Yes, I'm sorry I was cross with you, Goku."

"Did you get the water?" Sanzo smirked. He should have known it would have taken the boy three hours to fill four canteens.

Goku frowned and thrust foreword the three canteens. "Yeah, I got it. Sorry it took so long, but I thought I saw something that looked like Jeep and then I got lost following it. Turns out I had seen the sun reflecting offa' Gojyo's hair. And I'm totally starving, too!"

"Not my fault you're color blind, monkey." Gojyo mumbled to himself. Goku ignored his statement to keep his attention on Hakkai.

"I'm glad you're okay, Goku." Hakkai leaned back and relaxed a little. He kept his peripheral on Jeep who was now pruning his fur. All the anger he had been displaying earlier had vanished, the moody little thing. "We were getting worried."

The monkey grinned and rubbed the back of his head. "Yeah well, are we ready to get going or what?"

Hakkai chuckled and stood to brush himself off before heading to roll up his sleeping pack. "Yes, let's get going. It's already noon and if we leave now we might make it somewhere a bit nicer for a late lunch."

"Can't we eat now, Hakkai?" Goku begged.

"No, we've lost enough time as it is." Sanzo smacked the brat in the back of his head. "Grab the stuff and let's go."

Gojyo lit a Hi-Lite as he watched Hakkai sneak Goku a snack out of a bag. The monkey munched on the apple happily as the Jeep transformed. Hakkai was looking happier, but there was still some reluctance there. Something had happened from the time he had left and came back that shook his friend up. The priest wouldn't tell him, and the monkey didn't know. Gojyo nearly growled to himself at the prospect of asking Hakkai what had happened. Gojyo blew smoke and walked towards the Jeep to jump in the back with the monkey. He'd just have to find out later.


	4. Chapter 4

I swear, I was planning to update RK then this chapter just smacked me in the face. Anyway, enjoy and thanks for reading!

**Chapter 4**

Sanzo sat quietly and watched the shadows the noon day sun spread across the field. The blades of grass glistened with the moisture seeping into their various nooks and crannies. It was quiet, save for the monkey shuffling his feet behind the priest. Sanzo sucked in a breath as he waited for Goku to get the nerve to start the confrontation. The priest lit a cigarette and savored that first breath as he heard the boy shuffle closer. He should have known he'd have to deal with this shit when he first started.

"Hey, Sanzo." Goku started quietly as he came up behind his Master. The wind was blowing softly and Goku had to scrunch his nose a little at the smell that wafted in. A particularly strong whiff caused Goku to sneeze, but he rubbed his nose slowly to relieve the itch that followed. "Can I ask you somethin'?"

"What is it, monkey?" Sanzo stared quietly out into the field from his spot on the rock. The smell of blood and rot was near overwhelming, but he couldn't pull himself away from the scene. There was something important he was missing, so he sat and replayed what he had seen over and over in his head. A puff of smoke left his lips thoughtfully before he turned down to Goku. "And it better not be something stupid"

"Why'd you do that to Hakkai?" Goku kept his head down and leaned against the boulder Sanzo was perched on. He rubbed at his arms a little while waiting for an answer. He felt cold even if it was hot outside. Goku wondered if it was guilt.

"Do what?" Sanzo knew the answer, but he felt like making Goku say it anyway. It was good for the kid to stand up to him once in a while.

"You know, make Hakkai fight all by himself." The child's voice raised a few notches in his confusion. Sanzo had made Hakkai fight about forty to fifty demons all by himself and he wasn't looking so good afterwards. He had to have been sick or something because after he wiped out the enemy he held his stomach and went running. "We could have helped him. Why didn't you let me and Gojyo fight, too?"

"He didn't need our help."

"That still doesn't explain why you did it. I can take 'em all out by myself too, but I like it when we all fight together. Besides, Hakkai's hurting right now because of it. It just doesn't seem fair."

Sanzo took a very slow drag on his cigarette and released the warm smoke to join the other tendrils still floating above his head. "I wanted to see it for myself."

"See? See what?" Goku looked up to see Sanzo's face. His eyes were looking straight down at Goku, but the slight glaze spoke volumes. The rest of his face was drawn into a hard line, like he had been thinking about something for a while, but didn't act on it.

"Just what was so scary." He drove the stub that remained of his Marlboro into the rock and pushed himself off the rock to hit the ground. He ignored the splatter of blood that splashed up onto his jeans from the collecting puddles. "The way you and the cockroach act, you'd think Hakkai turns into some sort of monster when he transforms. It was obvious you were both freaked by the idea of him fighting."

"Well, what do you expect?" Goku mumbled. "I like Hakkai and stuff, but when I watched him just rip into stuff like that, I'm not sure what to think. I just get a little scared, 'cause Hakkai seems a little wild. Kinda reminds me of what you guys say I'm like when I take my limiter off."

"Please, you weren't paying attention at all to the situation, then." Sanzo rolled his eyes a little and started walking through the corpses. He kicked one for good measure. Hakkai had run off somewhere in this direction earlier. Sanzo had given him enough time to sulk.

"What do you mean?" Goku trotted after Sanzo and resisted the urge to cover his nose. The smell of the field was downright putrid. He envied Sanzo's weak sense of smell at times like these.

"Hakkai wasn't wild, out of control or anything like that." Sanzo paused to look at a clean cut limb lying about five feet from what he assumed was its original body. He turned his head away from the scene to get walking again. "But I will say he was damn efficient about the whole thing."

"Efficient?" Goku blinked and nearly tripped over the severed arm. He grimaced a bit when a nearby limb twitched. "What are you talking about?"

"He knew when to strike, where to cut, and how to do it. He took them down quickly and with the least amount of energy." Sanzo was still marveling at the efforts of his companion. Hakkai was an incredible fighter with his limiters on as it is, and Sanzo hadn't expected such a huge performance boost without them. His boots squished in the grass as he quickened his walk. He was starting to get a bad vibe from the forest Hakkai and the water sprite had disappeared into.

"Then how come he made such a mess?"

"I never said he was clean about it. Just efficient."

"Oh." Goku quieted a bit and sped up to match Sanzo's pace. The man's brows had grown closer together in worry, and that in turn worried Goku. "Are we going to go find him and Gojyo, now?"

"Yeah, I have this feeling leaving them alone is a bad idea right now."

"You sure? Hakkai and Gojyo are really good friends." The monkey king made himself ignore the slight doubt creeping into his system.

"I just hope that's enough."

"Enough for what?"

"To keep them from killing each other." Sanzo sighed. "People do stupid things when they're angry."

"Is Gojyo angry at Hakkai?"

"I doubt its Hakkai he's angry with." The priest kept walking. "But if he keeps pushing like I think he is, than Hakkai's going to be pretty pissed at him."

"Hakkai can get pretty scary when he's angry." Goku swallowed a little. Maybe finding Gojyo was a really good idea. That way they could stop it if Hakkai did something on accident.

"Tell me about it." Sanzo just hoped he didn't make things worse than they already were. So he quickened his pace.

* * *

"Hakkai?" Gojyo started slowly as he caught up with his friend. He had chased his roommate for near an hour by the time he had caught up. The said man, demon, whatever he was, had his knees and hands in the dirt as he vomited. Hakkai's breathing was heavy and he was making little noises in his throat. Gojyo took a deep breath before he got any closer.

"Go away, Gojyo."

"Hey, don't be like that. I'm worried about you." Despite the worry in his voice, he stopped walking anyway.

"Go, away. Gojyo." Hakkai's mouth tasted like vomit and blood. He smeared the last bits of the vile from his lips only to smear blood and dirt in it's place from his claws. "Now."

"Hakkai." Gojyo watched as Hakkai shook slightly and sat back on his haunches. It was clear he was trying to get control of himself and for the first time in a long time, Gojyo found himself hating Sanzo. "I'm sorry."

"Don't start, Gojyo." Hakkai held his aching head and willed it to stop pounding. Now that the adrenaline had died he was left with the crash. All he wanted was to be by himself and far away from anything that had blood in their veins. And quiet, lots of quiet. "Just, please leave me alone."

"I can't do that!" Gojyo took a few brave steps to get closer to his friend. Hakkai's form became strangely still and the half-breed gathered his courage. He hated fighting with Hakkai. He almost always lost. "I'm worried and I screwed up. I'm sorry."

"What are you sorry for?" Hakkai laughed and his shoulders shook. It seems he could always find competition for self-loathing in this little group of theirs. "You didn't do anything."

"Exactly." Gojyo let his hair cover his face in an attempt to hide from the man. Even if he had his back turned to Gojyo, the man still knew what those accusing eyes looked like. "I just sat there and let Sanzo get away with that. I should have helped you, shouldn't have let you fight all of them by yourself."

"If I remember correctly, Sanzo had a gun to your head at the time and told you to back off." Hakkai smirked and leaned his head slightly to watch Gojyo squirm. Sanzo had been very specific about the fight earlier. Hakkai would handle it all by himself and that was that. Hakkai wondered if Sanzo knew just what he was inviting onto everyone by letting Hakkai find himself this way. "He would have shot you, and then Sanzo really would have a problem on his hands."

"Still not an excuse." Gojyo cursed the monk with every fiber of his being for this situation. It was all his fault. "Damn bastard had no right to do this to you."

"I'm not upset because he made me fight them by myself, Gojyo." Hakkai pushed off from the ground and walked over to lean against a tree. He just wanted to go to sleep and forget today had even happened. "So don't blame Sanzo for this. He merely gave me, well, a chance to relieve some stress. Nothing more."

"You can't seriously believe that." Gojyo struggled to keep his voice from rising, but failed miserably. "He's just playing with you! You're a person and you can make your own decisions. What right does he have to turn you into his own guard dog?"

"Gojyo." Hakkai spoke slowly and bore his gaze into Gojyo's eyes. "For the last time, I'm not angry with Sanzo. So please stop talking like that. It's odd, but I do believe he's acting in my best interest."

"Best interest my ass! He's doing this out of selfishness." The water sprite slammed a fist into a tree and winced when little drops of blood rolled down his knuckles. The chips of bark fluttered down to the ground and he strained his eyes to stare at them. It was hard to look at Hakkai with that smirk on his face. "Damn it! You should be pissed at him!"

"He hasn't done anything wrong."

"Are you listening to yourself? You're my best friend, he hurt you and you're not even admitting that he did!"

"What exactly did he do to hurt me?" Hakkai rubbed his forehead into the bark of the tree. The smell and feel of Gojyo's blood pressure rising was making its way over on the breeze and it caused the knot in Hakkai's stomach to tighten. It was a good sensation.

Gojyo paused in midst of an angry breath. What was he going to say to that? If Gojyo mentioned the limiters it would be like admitting he was mad about Hakkai being a demon. If it was about fighting alone, he'd be diminishing his friends skills. When it really came down to it, Hakkai took them all out without so much of a sweat. So that wouldn't work either. The reaction he was seeing now, and what was hurting his friend was an emotional thing. And that brought him straight back to the limiters. Gojyo was disgusted with himself for getting trapped in this damned circle. That monk knew what he was doing when he set this up. "I'm not sure, but whatever he broke, I hate him for it."

"Nothing is broken." Hakkai rolled on his shoulder to put his back to the tree. The rough bark felt good scratching up and down his shoulder blades. "The only thing I can accuse Sanzo of is making me admit things to myself. Which, is what he really wanted from this whole nightmare in the first place when I think about it."

"So you're saying that this is what he wanted? For you to be miserable. Is that what you're saying? God, I hate seeing you like this." Gojyo walked over to stand in front of his friend. Hakkai's hair was covering his own eyes, and no one was more familiar with that trick than Gojyo.

"You've said that before, Gojyo." Hakkai sighed and watched a leaf blow by his feet. It was red. "And for the last time, I'm not upset because of anything Sanzo's done, well not directly anyway."

"Then what?" Gojyo was close to pleading. Hakkai was calmer now, he shouldn't have any qualms about talking about this with his friends.

"I loved every minute of it, you know."

Gojyo swallowed. Hakkai's tone was much too serious. Gojyo knew what Hakkai was referring to, but he still held onto the hope he was talking about something else. "Loved every minute of what?"

"Ripping those demons apart." Hakkai felt a slight smirk pull at his lips. "I relished the blood that splattered, it tasted sweet. The cracking sound from the limbs I disconnected gave a surge to my system that pushed me forward. Why do you think I was vomiting? I was disgusted by my own desire for blood. I wanted it out of my system before I did something to try and get more. If you hadn't noticed, the only ones left were you, Goku and Sanzo."

"Shit, man." Gojyo could feel his eyes widen in proportion to Hakkai's smile. This was minus wave bull Hakkai was talking about. Sanzo would have never taken the limiters if he thought Hakkai would be affected by the minus wave, would he? "Are you going to be okay?"

"That's why I didn't want to tell you, Gojyo." Hakkai jerked his head to the side. He wanted this conversation to be over. "I knew you wouldn't understand."

"I understand that something's getting to you and it has a lot to do with Sanzo taking your limiters." Gojyo frowned. Sanzo had to have known something like this was going to happen. He probably knew damn well what was going to happen. "It's almost like he wants you to be a killer again."

"Maybe, who knows." Hakkai rolled his head as the pounding softened. The demon disregarded the fact that his recent satisfied bloodlust coincided with the diminished headache. Merely a coincidence. "I don't really care right now."

"Well I do." Gojyo turned his back to Hakkai. He couldn't stand looking at that broken face. "And this is wrong."

"Just leave it, Gojyo."

"I can't just do that!"

"Hakkai!"

Both Gojyo and Hakkai turned when the new voice interrupted the start of their fight. Goku was waving his hand and running up to the pair with a large smile on his face. Hakkai relaxed his stance slightly and took a step away from Gojyo. Gojyo merely huffed and groped for a cigarette.

"I'm so glad you're okay! I was worried when you ran off like that." Goku waited for his breathing to even out a little and he listened for Sanzo to walk up behind him. "I woulda' chased after you too, but I didn't want to leave Sanzo by himself."

"Would have served the bastard right if something happened to him, if you ask me." Gojyo clicked the flint on his lighter viciously.

"Well, no one asked you." Sanzo snarled as he took in the picture before him. If he was to guess, Sanzo could agree he had shown up at just the right moment before things exploded. "You done sulking yet, Hakkai?"

"I think I've still got a few minutes in me." Hakkai's nose twitched as Sanzo drew closer. The man had demon blood all over his pant legs and boots. The smell was nauseating mixed with the distinct smell of life Sanzo brought with him.

"Funny." Sanzo rolled his eyes and ran a hand through his hair to get it out of his face. "We've had enough of a set back, let's get moving."

"Aren't you even going to give him a chance to clean up, o' holy one?" Gojyo smirked. It would be like Sanzo to be that careless. Or maybe he just didn't care.

At that statement, Sanzo turned back to look at Hakkai and realized the man was in fact covered from head to foot in blood and dirt. Funny how he had missed that. "Fine, clean up, then let's get the hell out of here."

Goku had kept quiet during this conversation. He wasn't exactly sure how he fit into things, but he knew he wanted to make Hakkai feel better and not act so weird around everyone. "Hey, Hakkai! I think I saw a river when we were chasing up here. Let's go there!"

"Alright, Goku." Hakkai sighed and followed Goku, making sure to glare at Sanzo as he passed. The demon briefly wondered if Sanzo actually knew what he was doing, or if it really was just a cruel game. "We'll be off then."

Sanzo could feel Gojyo's eyes burning into his back as he watched Hakkai and the monkey disappear into the bushes. He should have known this was coming. "If you have something to say, then say it."

"What exactly are you trying to get out of this?" Gojyo growled.

"Nothing."

"Priests shouldn't lie."

"I'm not a very good priest, now am I?"

"If Hakkai doesn't turn out okay by the end of this shit you've started, then you're going to regret it." Gojyo growled. "You got that?"

"You're over reacting. Now calm down."

"Hakkai's hurting and I'm overreacting!" Gojyo shouted. "Do you even see what you're doing to him?"

"He's stronger than this, and this is what he wants. He just won't admit it just yet."

"And how can you know, just what it is, Hakkai wants?"

"Hakkai will be fine." Sanzo smirked and turned to face the water sprite. "I thought you were his friend. Where's the faith?"

"Bastard." With that final expletive, Gojyo turned and walked away from the blonde. Any more time in his presence right now and he'd summon his blade on his ass. Stupid arrogant excuse of a priest.

"Don't be late."

"Shut up!"

* * *

"Hakkai, did Sanzo tell you why he did this?" Goku mumbled as he watched Hakkai attempt to drown himself in the cold water. The blood had long been washed off, but Goku could still smell it from where he was sitting, so he just assumed Hakkai could too.

"He told me I needed to get over myself, if you really want to know."

Goku scrunched his eyebrows a little bit processing that statement. It sounded like something Sanzo would say, but what exactly is it that Hakkai needed to 'get over?' "What exactly does that mean?"

"He thinks I'm too focused on something that's not important, and I need to get over it." Hakkai felt good as the freezing water cooled the blood in his own veins. Made him calm and it diminished the smell.

"Oh." Goku held his knees to his chest for a bit before standing up. Hakkai sounded like he was leaving something important out of this conversation. "Are you okay, Hakkai?"

"Yes, Goku. I'm fine."

"You sure you're not just lying to me?" Goku walked over to the water's edge to get a good look at the demon's face. "You know I hate secrets."

"If you're worried about Sanzo, don't be." Hakkai smiled at the boy's shocked face. It seemed Sanzo wasn't the only one who could tell what a person was thinking. He should have known Goku would have ulterior motives, even if he was genially concerned about Hakkai as well. "I'm not going to hurt him or go crazy."

"I'm not worried about that, so much anymore." Goku smiled softly at the reassurance. "Sanzo said the same thing."

"Then what's bothering you?"

"The way everyone's fighting with each other. I know we do this all the time, but it's different somehow this time. There's something underneath it all and I don't like it."

"I think we all feel that way, Goku." Hakkai pulled himself from the water and laid a hand on Goku's shoulder, careful to keep the claws from digging into the fabric of the boy's cape. "It'll all work out, you'll see."

"Yeah," Goku sighed. "But, do you feel any better now that you're clean?"

"Yes, now let's be off before Sanzo throws a fit and kills Gojyo."

"Yeah, we don't need that, do we?" Goku smiled. "Then who would I fight with over the last pot sticker?"

"That would be a predicament. I'm going to get my things, go on ahead."

As Goku waved and skipped back towards their companions, Hakkai took a look at himself in the water. The demon's face that stared back at him wasn't so frightening anymore. Now that he'd been used to it for a little while, it was almost a normal sight. However, he couldn't help but wonder what other people saw when they laid their eyes on his face. Hakkai pulled his shirt over his head and kicked a rock into the water to ripple his reflection. He wondered how he could possibly look at himself in a mirror again once the limiters were back in place. His lie would be even more obvious to himself than it was before.

"DEMON!"

Hakkai's head shot up as he heard the shriek from the other side of the river. A girl, maybe in her twenties, had dropped her basket and was pointing at him. Her eyes were the size of saucer plates and he could tell her breathing had become erratic with fear. Hakkai felt a stab in his gut as he watched her terror filled complexion. He watched her scramble to grab her things and bolt in the opposite direction. The demon wasn't quite sure how that made him feel, people had been scared of him before, but not with such a violent reaction. Not for a very long time.

The logical part of his brain told him to leave before she came back with friends to make sure he wasn't a threat. The other half was just confused about what to do. Either way, Hakkai found himself shuffling slowly back to camp. The girl hadn't said anything that wasn't true. And that's what hurt the most.


	5. Chapter 5

Short, but it ended where I needed it to end. Enjoy the next chapter and thanks for reading and reviewing!

**Chapter 5**

"Did something happen?"

Hakkai sighed at the tone of Sanzo's voice. The priest had known the moment he got back from his little river trip that something was off. Hakkai hated Sanzo's perceptiveness. The demon stretched his fingers out and felt the joints crack in succession and let his bitter smile return to his face. He would have almost preferred the man to be helpless to perceptions, but he wasn't that lucky. "Of course, not. I'm just tired."

Sanzo didn't believe the demon for an instant. Hakkai looked much too tense and there were lines growing around his eyes. The slight droop in his shoulders also betrayed his words. Sanzo hated being lied to, but for now, however, he'd let it slide. An accusation now would set the water sprite in a frenzy and no one needed that moron to act up right now. "Suit yourself."

Hakkai raised an eyebrow at the odd reply, but that was Sanzo. Who knew what he was thinking? He instead turned his attentions to the other two. Goku was loading bags into the now transformed Jeep. The little dragon must have cooperated with the others because of the foul mood in the air, or Sanzo threatened him with the gun. Gojyo, on the other hand, looked like he had been slapped, only without a bruise on his cheek. Chi wouldn't heal a blow to that man's pride. It was going to be a long drive. Hakkai only prayed for a town to be close.

Gojyo didn't believe Hakkai either. The man had a drained look on his face, even more so than usual as of late. If Hakkai couldn't hide it, than something was very wrong with their friend. Gojyo just knew something had happened in the twenty or so minutes from when Hakkai went to clean up and now. Gojyo doubted it was anything good. "You going to be okay driving, Hakkai?"

"Of course, and if all goes well we should be at a town by nightfall." Hakkai smiled bitterly. The frightened girl had been useful in at least one way: she was a sign there was a village or settlement close by. Then Sanzo could give him back his limiters and this entire nightmare could be pushed behind him. Hakkai scrunched his nose at a new scent that entered the camp. It rather stunk of rotting meat that was strangely provoking to his senses. The sooner he got rid of these heightened abilities the better. They were doing nothing for his headache.

"We would if we were going that direction." Sanzo pulled the sleeves of his robe back onto his arms and straightened them accordingly. A quick shake of the head to get his hair out of his face and Sanzo took a few steps towards the Jeep. It was time to get things moving. "We're headed west and there shouldn't be another town for a few days."

Hakkai narrowed his eyes and took in a slow breath. The demon was determined to stay calm in light of the situation. "There has to be a town a little to the south west of here. We could go and re-supply and get a good night's rest for a change."

"And how do you know that?" Sanzo stood and looked Hakkai in the eyes. He was going to get to the bottom of this new development and now. The truth would come out, or Hakkai would suffer more than necessary. The man should be smart enough to figure that out by now. Sanzo licked the top of his lips as he felt the chapped surfaces brush together.

"I remember seeing it on the map." Spoken with a straight face, Hakkai didn't waver in his lie. The tightening of his fists however, betrayed him to the priest.

So Hakkai wanted to play that game, did he. Sanzo smirked and started walking towards the Jeep calmly. He took his time with nice even strides that sent his robe swishing around his legs. "That town is too far out of the way, we're passing it and going to the other one, as planned."

"Be reasonable." Hakkai growled and stomped a foot. He noticed Gojyo and Goku flinch a little in the background, but he couldn't care. Sanzo was making his blood boil and the exhilarating feeling he got from it was frightening. "It would be maybe twenty, thirty minutes top out of the way. We've had plenty worse delays."

"My, you have a good memory for not having looked at the map in a while." Sanzo raised an eyebrow and leaned his head back to get a better look at Hakkai. "Or maybe something else told you there's a town close by."

"You should know by now I'm good at remembering things." Hakkai cursed himself inwardly. Knowing that the girl had walked gave him the proximity of her home. He should have known Sanzo would pick up on it. But he would not be given the satisfaction. "I insist we take this time to prepare for those two to three days of travel when we do head for that next town while we have it."

"We're passing it. And that's final." Sanzo could practically feel the rage coming from Hakkai. It was near tangible and it was even getting the attention of the other two morons. Even Gojyo knew to keep his mouth shut during this fight. Sanzo was thankful for those tiny blessings, even if he would never admit it. "If it means that I have to knock your ass out and drive there myself, then I will."

Hakkai chuckled to himself at the thought. It would be an amusing outcome if the man even dared. "I invite you to try."

"Shit." Gojyo was suddenly at a loss of what to do with himself. He doubted they noticed, but Hakkai and Sanzo's voices had been steadily rising as their words were flung between each other. Gojyo had never seen Sanzo and Hakkai in a fist fight before, and he sure as hell didn't want to. That meant he'd have to get between them before it started, but his legs had turned traitorous. His sense of self-preservation had sealed his body's movements and he found himself watching as Sanzo's fists tightened.

"Get out of the way, Goku."

Gojyo ripped himself from his thoughts to realize that Goku had beat him to the punch, so to speak. That little brat had his back to Hakkai and was glaring at Sanzo for all he was worth. Goku was definitely standing in a battle stance ready to take on whoever moved first. Kid had guts, and Gojyo found himself resentful.

"Sanzo, why? Why are you doing this?" Goku shouted and squeezed his eyes shut tight. Sanzo and Hakkai were being scary again and he didn't like it. This was ten times worse than the time when Gojyo had ditched them. "Why can't we just go to the town close by like Hakkai wants?"

"Because I said so." _Because Hakkai isn't getting off that easily._

"That doesn't make any sense."

"Don't be silly, Goku." Hakkai sneered and ruined the friendly tone that had flowed out of his mouth. "Of course it does. If we go to town, Sanzo will have to give me my limiters back. He doesn't want that, don't you see? He rather likes having a little pet demon around, don't you Sanzo?"

"What?" Goku had to turn around and stare back at Hakkai. The near motherly man's face was twisted into a expression he hoped never to see on the man. It sort of reminded him of the demon's that have gone psycho, and that scared Goku more than anything. "That can't be right."

Sanzo reached into his robe and grabbed a cigarette, Hakkai's statements didn't even deserve a response. He lit it slowly and considered his options. So, Hakkai wanted to take control and get Goku on his side by playing the 'master card,' did he? Than so be it. Sanzo would cave to Hakkai's wishes, but the man was still a fool. Wishes can backfire something fierce, and maybe that's just what the man needed right now. Sanzo was always a fan of tough love. "Fine. Have it your way, we'll go to the closer town."

Goku wasn't quite sure what had happened, but he was glad the fight was over for now at least. He relaxed his pose and took one last look at Hakkai before trailing close behind Sanzo. Goku tried to get a look at his face to maybe see some treachery of his expressions that might give the boy a hint at what Sanzo was planning, but that stoic face proved futile for information. Goku decided it might be best just to wait and see what was in store for them.

Gojyo watched as Sanzo ended the conversation and walked to place his butt in the front seat with his pet monkey following. The priest had his eyes shut and was simply waiting for the rest of them to file in the car like normal. Not even a huff or a glare in their direction at the annoyance. That was far too easy of an agreement. The shocked look on Hakkai's face seemed to mimic his own. "Hey, Hakkai."

"Yes, Gojyo?" That was too easy, Hakkai gathered his thoughts together. Sanzo never caves to demands. Hakkai wondered what the man could possibly have in store for him at the town.

"You sure you're okay?"

"I'm fine, Gojyo. Stop worrying." Hakkai shook his head and decided just to count his blessings. After placing himself behind the wheel and making sure Gojyo and Goku were settled, Hakkai started the engine, but not without a bit of hesitation. Pulling himself together he tried for a fake smile to calm down his nerves. "Let's just get to town and sleep in a bed for a change."

"Amen to that." Gojyo let out a lengthy sigh and kept his eyes on the stoic monk. His face was calculating. Gojyo didn't like it.

"And we can get something to eat!" Goku shouted from the back. Stuff was still major tense between the four of them, but maybe if he lightened the mood enough they'd get over it like they always do. He hoped.

* * *

"Well, we're here." Hakkai smiled a sigh of relief as he pulled Jeep to a halt just outside of the tiny town. It housed maybe ten to twenty families, but it had a shop and an inn. That was all they needed. The grass was green and the air here was fresh and clean. Hakkai took in a deep breath and held it as long as he could. This whole mess could finally come to an end and everything would be fine again.

"So we are." Sanzo frowned and prepared himself. The priest straightened his back and crossed his arms making sure one hand was around his gun handle inside of the sleeve. It was going to get pretty nasty in the next few minutes. "Why did you stop here? Or are we just going to camp here and enjoy the scenery?"

Hakkai blinked and drew in a slow breath and turned his own green eyes to those piercing violet ones. There was a hardness to them now, one that clearly said he would regret ever crossing this man. Sanzo couldn't. He wouldn't. "Aren't you forgetting something."

"I don't believe so." Sanzo used every piece of training he ever received from a temple to keep up his façade. He had never been so thankful for mediation in his life now that he was facing those eyes. The human eye pleaded to any sliver of sympathy in his stony heart, while the demon eye blazed into his soul with anger. Sanzo considered chanting a sutra in his head to steady himself further or he might crack under the intimidation that was demon Hakkai. His voice did not give away any of the turbulence in his spirit. "Now either take us down there, or head to the next town."

"Sanzo, this is not amusing." Hakkai's fists squeezed so hard on the wheel, Jeep made a tiny squeak. Hakkai wondered if a Jeep could bleed.

"Who said I was joking?"

"Please return my limiters, Sanzo."

"No." The priest tilted his head slightly to take in the other man's face. Rage was there, but that was to be expected. Another breath, slow and secure, to calm himself. "Now drive."

"You said you would give them back at the next town." Hakkai didn't care his voice was rising. Shouting felt so damn good right now. His hands writhed on their respective holds on the vehicle to keep himself from wrapping them around that pale neck.

"When I said that, the next town was two weeks away. You've only been without them for one, and clearly you haven't made any progress. I should do you a favor and extend the time to three or four weeks."

That pounding headache was back in full force in Hakkai's brain as he processed just what the hell that bastard of a priest was up to. Just what he was suggesting that Hakkai do. "You're expecting me to go into town like this?"

"Is that a problem?"

"Sanzo, I consider myself patient, but there is a line." Hakkai shot his hand out before he realized what he was doing and dragged Sanzo's face closer to his own by the hem of his robe collar. Sanzo's skin smelled like salt. "And you've crossed it. I'm only asking nicely one more time."

"Hakkai."

The demon's fingers stiffened in their grip when he heard the tiny voice from the back seat. Goku was never one to be quiet and Hakkai knew that he shouldn't look. Those eyes would undo him, but he could still feel them drilling into his profile. He shouldn't have looked. Goku's eyes were huge and scared, his body however was tensed. Hakkai lessened his grip slightly and leaned back into the seat.

"What are you doing?" Goku was terrified. He did everything he could to hide it, but that wouldn't change the fact that it was true. Hakkai looked like he was really going to hurt Sanzo, and even if Goku didn't quite understand what was going on between them, he knew he didn't like it. Goku wasn't sure if he could live with himself if he had to hurt Hakkai to save Sanzo. They were friends, friends didn't do this to each other. "Let him go."

The initial shock of Hakkai actually lashing out at Sanzo for Gojyo had worn off by the time Goku had started speaking. Gojyo lit a cigarette and let out a tiny smirk. The smoke ran rings around his hand as he ran a finger through the smoke. "I don't know, I think Hakkai's in the right this time. 'Bout time somebody put his Excellency in his place."

Sanzo hadn't said anything yet, and Hakkai still had a grip on his robe. The demon could feel a slight vibration under the robe, and he wondered if Sanzo was aware he was shaking just the tiniest bit. Hakkai briefly wondered what would have happened if his aim was off and it would have snagged the scripture or dug straight down into the warm flesh beneath. Which would have received a more violent counter attack, he wondered. Hakkai slowly released his hand, but held tight to his anger. Gojyo was right, for once, and he had managed to scare Sanzo. If only a little. "I agree, Gojyo. Sanzo, return my limiters. Now."

"Are you deaf?" Sanzo tilted his head and brushed his shoulder off where Hakkai had ripped the fabric. He breathed easier now that the threat was over. Hakkai wouldn't be trying that again, not with Goku still tense in the back. He needed to invest in nail clippers for that man. "I already told you the answer was no."

"What the hell!" Gojyo slammed a fist down on the back of Sanzo's seat. Hakkai wasn't angry enough, so this little water sprite would be twice as livid for him. "You want them to attack him or something?"

"It's a small town, they'll be much more accepting than a major city." Sanzo wasn't budging. Hakkai was going to learn a lesson from this if it killed him. That and Sanzo wanted to test his control. Hakkai should be better than this right now. It was possible the minus wave was getting to him, and that worried Sanzo more than any riot a town could come up with.

"Accepting my ass!" Gojyo outright growled. If the demon in the front seat didn't smack some sense into blondie, than this little half-demon sure as hell would. "They're going to try and throw him out, and if they don't they're going to treat him like shit. What the hell is wrong with you?"

"If they act like that, than it'll be a good way for Hakkai to learn to control his temper, won't it?"

Hakkai made full note that Sanzo had looked directly at him while saying that last bit. He let out an amused sigh. He was too tired to keep his anger burning, it had already blown out like a candle flame. But now he knew what this was about, Sanzo didn't trust him. The man was such a liar for a priest. "Fine, we'll do it your way."

"Hakkai, man, don't let him win this." Gojyo was pleading now. This was so freaking messed up. He gripped the seat tightly with his hands before he resorted to shaking his friend. He shoved his forehead into the seat in his frustration. "Hey, Goku, back me up on this!"

Goku swallowed a little as all the attention of the group was once again upon him. Why did things have to get so complicated? His eyes slid of their own volition to look at Sanzo and his face. Goku wished he could crawl inside that blonde head and figure out what he was doing. Sanzo wouldn't hurt Hakkai on purpose like this without a reason. That was for certain, so the best he could do was just trust Sanzo.

"Well?" Gojyo shook Goku's shoulder with a hand when the boy didn't answer. "You shouldn't have to think that hard about it."

"I think," Goku started. "I just really want to get something to eat and go to bed."

Sanzo snorted. That was the best answer Goku could have given at the time; one hell of a way to get out of a _catch 22_. "Then it's settled. Let's go Hakkai."

Hakkai put on a friendly smile and played along. The demon was sure Sanzo would regret this later. "Of course, Master Sanzo. However, I claim now that I'm not responsible for my actions."

"Just drive." Sanzo finally let out the breath he had been holding to relax a little in his seat. The evening was just getting started. Checking the rearview mirror he saw the other two pouting in the back. Sanzo leaned his head back against the seat and watched the smoke filter into the sky from Gojyo's cigarette.


	6. Chapter 6

Short and sweet. Enjoy the next chapter of Keeping Face! If things go as I plan, there should be about 2-3 more segments. Thanks for reading and reviewing!

**Chapter 6**

"Well, it's going better than expected at least." Gojyo hummed as he walked down the street. Everyone was glaring at Hakkai, but no one had said anything or done anything to him yet. The worst they were doing was just ignoring he was there, and Gojyo wasn't sure if that was shoddier than if they had a riot. From the looks of it, even if things hadn't cascaded downhill yet, Hakkai was still tense. Though, Gojyo couldn't blame him. "No one's screamed yet."

"Thankful for tiny blessings and all that." Hakkai was mortified. The demon had never been so embarrassed in his entire life. He felt as though a thousand tiny needles were boring into his every pore as he walked by the townspeople. There was a practically tangible web of distrust and fear clinging to his every bit of flesh. Had they nothing better to do than to stare at him? Hakkai took purposeful, even breaths to calm himself. He was already starting to feel like a wild animal in a corner and getting nervous would only make him lash out. He felt a pair of tiny eyes staring at up him like he was some freak show and felt his breath speed up again. Control. Hakkai was all about control.

"Get a grip, Hakkai. You're starting to look like a drug addict in withdrawal." Sanzo blew out some smoke from his cigarette. Things couldn't have been going better if he planned it. Hakkai was being forced to empathize for once with the demon cause and no one was causing major trouble. Sanzo sent a glare towards an old man who had made a tiny reach back for a metal pole. At eye contact the geezer quickly removed his hand from the potentially threatening item and went inside his shop. This monk was going to make sure things didn't get out of control. As long as the townsfolk kept the hate out of the physical realm, everything would be fine. They'd deal with a demon who wasn't crazy, and he could make sure Hakkai still had a grip on himself. "Your limiters aren't supposed to be habit forming."

"I'll try and remember that next time I use them. Moderation in all things, isn't it?" Hakkai muttered as he watched the older gentleman to his left walk inside instead of grabbing that stick. Shame, Hakkai would have almost welcomed a fight if it would prove him right and Sanzo wrong. "If you ever give them back. It seems abstinence is more your fancy."

"Hey!" Goku bounced up in front of Sanzo with a big grin on his face. The people in the town were weird, but they couldn't be all bad if his nose was anything to go by. "Something over that way smells really, really good. Can we go check it out? Please?"

"No, we're checking into the hotel first."

"But I'm hungry! And it's right there!"

"It'll still be there later when we have dinner. Control your stomach."

Gojyo rolled his eyes and stretched his arms out over his head. A real bed to take a nap in was looking better and better. "Chill, monkey. I'm sure they'll serve food at the hotel."

"You think?" Goku grinned and couldn't contain the bounce. A good meal and night's sleep in beds should make everyone feel better. That way they could get back to normal faster and this whole mess would be over. "Room service! Yay!"

"Goku seems exceptionally cheerful today, doesn't he?" Hakkai muttered and sent a glare with equal force back at a teenager. The brat had the nerve to step in front of his girlfriend protectively. As if Hakkai would do anything to her; she wasn't even worth his time. "You'd almost think he was trying to compensate for the rest of us."

Goku's face fell at hearing Hakkai's comments. Cheering people up didn't work so well when they were so stubborn to stay miserable. Though, looking back at Sanzo, Goku knew that this was nothing original with their little group. Goku let out a huff of a breath and turned to smile at the demon anyway. "What's wrong with that?"

"Nothing, I suppose." Hakkai stopped when he noticed Sanzo do the same a few paces in front of him. A pair of green eyes traveled up where Sanzo was looking and saw the sign of an old Inn. Hakkai could smell something baking in the back. It did smell good and he could hear running water which meant there had to be a bath. It sort of had the feel of a Mom n' Pop's sort of place.

Gojyo didn't know it, but he easily said what Hakkai had been thinking. "Good choice, a little home run place like this would be more open to Hakkai over there than that bigger hotel on the next street that one guy mentioned at the gate, huh Lord Sanzo?"

"Please, this hotel probably has less people staying in it. I'll have a better chance of getting a room to myself that way. I can't stand looking at you three idiots any longer today." Sanzo opened the door to the establishment and walked with a purpose towards the desk. He noticed Hakkai had paused in the doorway.

"Well, you sure you're going to be okay, Hakkai?" Gojyo whispered in his friend's ear as they stood at the threshold. The red-head shoved a few locks of his hair behind his ear as Hakkai watched him calmly. "This'll be your first time talking with someone other than us as a demon. Or at the very least talking to someone who's not us that you don't plan on ripping apart, anyway."

"I'm sure I'll be fine, Gojyo." The demon took a deep breath and took the paces into the main lobby to stand behind Sanzo. The girl behind the desk gasped a little and Hakkai immediately recognized her by her scent.

"It's you." Miao did her best not to shudder as she stared at the demon behind the priest. It was the same one she had seen earlier in the woods when she was doing laundry. Miao hadn't expected to see him again. Most demons stayed away from the town. "From the river."

"Ah, yes." Hakkai could feel his pulse quickening by the second as he listened to the woman's own heart beat faster. The demon shot a glance towards Sanzo who's eyes were boring into him. This was not something Hakkai needed to deal with right now. "I believe I frightened you, I do apologize."

"Oh! No! I overreacted." Miao bowed a little and straightened quickly. Between that polite tone and the other three staring at her, she guessed playing it polite would be the best way to go. Maybe he wouldn't hurt anyone if they managed to not offend him. "Just, so many demons have gone crazy and, well."

"It's only natural you assumed, it's quite alright." Hakkai lied straight through his teeth. There was no way everything was 'quite alright' when his pulse was racing and every nerve in his body was acting up. It was a novel sensation, but Hakkai could practically smell the fear shivering beneath the outer layer of her skin. This woman was only being polite because Sanzo was there. He was sure she'd still be screaming if he had walked in on his own.

"So you two met this morning, did you?"

Speaking of the devil, Hakkai turned to his tormenter for the week. His dear priest had that calculating look on his face again. "Yes, a small run in at the river when I was washing. My appearance seemed to have frightened her, but I couldn't tell you why that might be."

"Indeed." Sanzo growled. He'd make the bastard demon tell him about it later. And if Hakkai wouldn't talk, he'd question the girl. And if she didn't talk, well, guns did wonder for motivation. Only a fool would only be scared of demons. "Enough of this, I just want to go to my room and go to bed."

"Yes, that might be best. Ms.?" Hakkai tilted his head in what he hoped was an innocent gesture.

"Miao, my name's Miao and yes of course. The keys." Miao slowly reached under the desk for the box of keys. The man seemed polite enough, but that didn't change the fact he had to have been washing off a huge amount of blood when she saw him. The blood wouldn't have curled around the plants in the still sections of the water if it hadn't been a large amount. She swallowed and handed over the three keys. That much blood had to have come from somewhere, and she doubted it was good. "Here you go, rooms 102 and 104 are the singles, and 103 is the double room."

"Thank-you, Miss Miao." Hakkai smiled and took the key for room 104. He had no intention of sharing a room with anyone this evening and was almost thankful that Sanzo thought ahead. "And my name is Hakkai. These are my friends, Sanzo, Goku and Gojyo."

"It's a pleasure to meet you."

It was at this point, however, that Gojyo took his turn to speak up after being good and quiet for the past conversation. "Why do I have to share with the monkey?"

"Because they only had two single rooms available, deal with it." Sanzo growled and snatched the other single room key. "If I see any of your faces before dinner, I will kill you."

Goku pouted as Sanzo stomped off to his room. This meant that not only would Hakkai and Sanzo be weird again, but he'd have to stay with the water sprite again. This sucked. "I hope we get to go to that place that smelled really good for dinner at least."

"He wasn't serious, was he? About killing people?" Miao leaned over towards Gojyo. He seemed the most normal out of the group.

"Who knows. He's an asshole, that's for sure."

"Oh, well, please enjoy your stay and don't hesitate to ask if you need anything." Miao bowed and quickly headed for the back room. Hakkai was still giving her the creeps and the way he was smiling was frightening.

"She disappeared awfully quick." Gojyo whistled and stuffed his hands in his pockets. Why did Hakkai have all the luck finding the pretty ones? "You should of told _me_ at least that something like that had happened. Don't blame you for keeping it from Sanzo though. That bastard would have had a fit."

Hakkai held his head and carefully massaged his temples. Maybe he'd go hunt down some tea or something to try and alleviate this constant, nagging headache. "Forget it, Gojyo. I don't even want to start with this right now."

The water sprite was too tired of fighting to bring up an argument. He'd already seen where pushing Hakkai had led him, so for now he'd just let it slide. Gojyo knocked Goku in the head and pushed him towards the room area of the hotel. The kid had been too quiet in the past few minutes anyway. "Come on monkey, let's get a nap in before you fill your gut."

"Oh, okay." Goku took one last look at Hakkai before he let Gojyo pull him away. It was a little obvious Hakkai needed some alone time right now, so it was okay.

Hakkai leant up against the side of the counter as the other's retreated into the distance. His head was aching and he wondered why he wasn't heading to his room himself. All things considered, nothing had gone too badly. The town was wary, but not violent and even this Miao girl was warming up a little. She had at least attempted a civil conversation with him. Hakkai sighed and pushed himself up from the counter when he felt a hand clamp down on his shoulder.

The demon stiffened slightly and turned quickly to look eye to eye with his assailant. Only, that proved difficult when all he saw was air. "What?"

"Down here, youngster."

Hakkai's eyes trailed down about a foot and a half to see a pair of slit eyes looking up at him. "A demon?"

"Yeah, bit of a surprise for me to see you too, Sonny." The elder demon chuckled a little at the boy's shocked face. Jeriche pulled his hood a little to reveal a bit more of his face. The youngster had guts walking around full in the open. Jeriche couldn't decide if that was praiseworthy or just stupid. The old demon pulled the hood back fully over his face regardless. "I take it you don't see your own kind very much, huh? Well, my name is Jeriche and just let me say I am happy to finally see another demon who's not foaming at the mouth."

Hakkai took a small survey of the room. It was just the two of them, and he was a demon. Paranoia kept Hakkai on edge and he briefly wondered if this was a trap. "Ah, yes."

"So eloquent there," Jeriche laughed and gave the kid a light punch to the gut. He flinched something fierce and Jeriche caught himself raising his eyebrows. Kids these days needed to learn how to relax. "Care to join me for a drink?"

Hakkai sighed a little as the man made the motion with his hand of downing a cup or two. He seemed harmless enough. Maybe liquor would do him a bit of good right now.

* * *

"You think Hakkai's going to be okay?" Goku hummed as Gojyo fussed over his hair. For someone who used to hate his hair, he sure combed it a lot.

"I'm not sure."

"That's doesn't help much."

"Hey, it's the truth okay?" Gojyo dropped his shirt on the bed and had every intention of hitting the sack early tonight. His head hurt just thinking about stuff. "This whole thing just leaves a bad taste in my mouth. Damn that Sanzo."

Goku frowned at Gojyo and huffed. "I'm sure Sanzo knows what he's doing. I doubt he'd ever hurt Hakkai on purpose without a reason."

"Says you." Gojyo ducked under the blankets and rolled over to face the wall. "I know you've know him for what, six years or something? But how well do you really know the guy? He's sure given us surprises before, or did you forget his fun with the scorpion bitch?"

"I didn't forget, and that was different." Goku hugged his pillow close. "Sort of."

"Whatever," Gojyo closed his eyes. He'd made the monkey depressed. "Just forget I said anything. I'm stressed."

"And now you're just acting weird."

"Shut up and go to sleep."

Goku fell back with a 'thump' as he hit the bed. The ceiling stared down at him and he wondered what was going to come around the corner for the four of them.

* * *

"Well bless my stars, a demon hanging out with humans. And traveling no less!" The older demon laughed and smiled warmly. He'd just finished listening to Hakkai talk about his three traveling companions and was impressed they hadn't killed each other yet. Stuff like that always brought a smile to his face. That and the youngster could hold his liquor; always a good sign. "I didn't think I'd see that ever again. I'm glad."

"It would be unusual now, with all of the demons losing their sanity." Hakkai spoke slowly and clenched the tiny cup between his hands. As much as he wished otherwise, talking with this other demon was making him feel awkward. Even more nerve wracking was the fact that he couldn't talk naturally. It would be too dangerous to let things slip about their mission west and just who the priest he was traveling with was in reality. Hakkai smiled a little as Jeriche took another swig. At least the little bar they were in was nice, even if it was pretty deserted.

"It's good to be grateful for towns like these. They don't really trust us anymore, and they try to ignore us. But to their defense, they don't go out of their way to do anything unless we hurt them first. And they don't mind serving us at their bars." Jeriche reached over to put his hand over Hakkai's own tight grip and gave it a tiny squeeze. The boy was much too nervous and tense. "I know it doesn't seem fair to you now, but when you're older you'll be thankful for these tiny blessings."

"Yes, I'm sure that I will." Hakkai smiled and took a sip from his cup, thankful the man had removed his hand from Hakkai's own. The contact made his gut turn, which in turn made his heart ache from his own bigotry. He should have been over these sensations and feelings. Hakkai took a deeper gulp from his cup and set it forward to be refilled. "It's always nice to hear the advice from elders."

"Shoot, I'm not that old." Jeriche leaned on his elbows. "But you're still pretty young. What made you four go out traveling together anyway? As much as I enjoy seeing the two sides getting along, you still gotta' wonder how something like that happens. It wasn't even that common when demons and humans were getting along."

"I guess you could say," the younger demon found himself thinking back to when the four of them first met. It had all started there after all, and Hakkai found himself smiling slightly as the memories came flooding back into his head. He could remember Gojyo's brash kindness as he recovered from his losses. Goku's cheerful disposition and smiles came flooding in right behind, but more than that he remembered a voice clean and comforting. A voice that reached down into their souls and wrapped so many chains around their hearts they knew they could never escape from it. The binding thought that these three misfits would be bound to that glow until the day they died. "We were brought together by a shining light."

"How poetic." The old demon smiled as Hakkai's shoulders loosened and his face grew warm and welcoming. "You should cherish that bond between you four. Whatever that light was, if it can hold the four of you together than it must be something mighty special."

"In a way, though I think that light likes to stay hidden from us most of the time." Hakkai ran his hand along his cheek in a soft motion as he felt his eyes droop. He flinched slightly when he hit his hand went farther than he had thought it could along his ears. The tiny reminders of his demon body never felt natural. That light turned and had burned him in the cavernous openings of his own doubt. "Lately, I feel as if I can't sense anything at all other than my own shortcomings and mistakes."

"Sounds like you've got a past." Jeriche smiled warmly as the boy's eyes widened. The elder wasn't so drunk to tell the boy had said something he shouldn't have. "But don't worry, I won't ask because it's not important. Take it from an old man, the only thing the past is good for is learning. Other than that it's like a history book. It's worthless unless you take something from it for the important part of life. As much as I sound like a repeating record, it's the right now that's important."

"The right now?" Hakkai slowly set his cup down and stared at his hands, the vines that wrapped around so tightly he could feel them across every fiber of his being. "Even if that past defines what you are? Who you are?"

"Nothing defines who and what you are, except the who and what you are at this very moment."

_Cho Gonou was human. Cho Gonou is dead._

"Is that so."

_Cho Hakkai is a demon._

"You can't be anything else than who you are, now can you, kiddo?"

_And he needs to get over it._

"Yes, yes of course." Hakkai felt like crying.


	7. Chapter 7

Argh. This chapter is horrible. -hides in a corner- Thanks for reading it anyway! Hopefully the next one will redeem this one.

**Chapter 7**

"Shit." Sanzo cursed to himself as he looked out the window of the tiny room. He had looked out the window on a whim as he sat down on the firm mattress, but now he wished he would have just ignored it. Sanzo groaned as he lifted himself off the bed and reached for his gun. With a few swift clicks he checked to make sure it was loaded and ready to go. There was a gang of demons just on the horizon of the town walking in slowly, clearly trying to avoid drawing attention to themselves until it was too late for the townsfolk.

Well wasn't that just damn peachy?

The agitated priest cursed inwardly at the scene he knew was going to show up if those demons made it into town and ran into Hakkai. The townsfolk would get all uppity and they'd piss off Hakkai and Sanzo would have even more shit to deal with. Growling to himself with a voice that would make a grizzly whimper, Sanzo kicked down his door and made his way two doors down to the idiots' room. Maybe if they took care of it fast and quiet enough they could all have a good night and he wouldn't have to worry about Hakkai angsting again. Though, considering the two numbskulls he was acquiring, 'quiet' might be too much to ask.

"Oy!" Sanzo used the back of his fist to pound on the door. The pounding was enough to rattle the creaking doorframe and the monk found himself frowning even farther as he waited. After a another minute or so without an answer, Sanzo knocked harder and raised his voice another decibel. "Open up you stupid cockroach!"

"What is it? Geesh, shouldn't you be asleep like a good geezer?" Gojyo moaned as he opened the door. He yawned deeply as he leaned against the doorframe opposite of a very angry blonde. So much for his plans to turn in early for the night. Leave it to Sanzo to ruin a good dream, but that was how things worked. "You look like someone shoved a pole up your ass."

"Get the monkey." Sanzo lit a cigarette while the water sprite degraded himself by scratching under his wife beater. Idiocy seemed to multiply itself upon first waking, so Sanzo deemed it best not humor the man's pathetic insults. Straight to the point, then. "Demons are going to attack soon, they're already filtering into the town."

Gojyo felt himself sober up quickly from his short lived sleep at Sanzo's tone. The man was being serious about something actually important, for a change. This was not a good thing. "Does Hakkai know?"

"I don't know, but I want to deal with it now before he gets involved."

"So, the great Lord Sanzo does care about his servants. How noble."

"Shut up." Sanzo turned and yanked his gun out of his sleeve. He was shooting the first demon he saw in the street. Turning swiftly on his heels he started down the hallway knowing the other two would follow behind. "I want this taken care of now before it evolves into something bigger. I have no intention of getting tossed out of town tonight."

"Well that makes two of us. Last thing Hakkai needs is to get caught up in this shit in a town full of guarded folks." Gojyo snorted and turned back into the room. Gracefully, he kicked Goku off the bed and waited for the resulting grunt. As Goku turned to snuggle into the floor, Gojyo jammed a foot under his ribcage and pressed. Goku waved his hand at it absently as if he was swatting a fly. "Wakey, wakey. Time to kick some demon ass."

"Is it time for breakfast?" Goku mumbled into the floor. It was far too early for demons to be attacking. Had they know sense of time? There should be a rule!

"You can eat later, get up before priestie-boy gets too far ahead of us."

"Alright! Stop kicking me!" Goku snarled as he stood up. He reached behind him to grab his jeans and his shoes as Gojyo wandered over to get his own clothes. If Sanzo had already left for the fight himself, than it had to be something serious. "But we are so eating right after this."

"Whatever." The long-legged Gojyo yawned into his hand as he followed the energetic monkey down the stairs. "Let's try and take care of this one quietly, huh?"

"So Hakkai doesn't know about it, right?"

"So the monkey isn't a complete idiot." Gojyo grinned and ruffled the boy's hair. At the swatting hands he removed his own and held them defensively in the air. "I think his holiness is pissed so let's hurry."

"Right!"

* * *

"Wow, I'm impressed." Jeriche laughed. "You can really knock um' back, can't ya?"

"Well, I have a lot of experience. To date, no one's been able to out drink me." Hakkai sipped quietly at his twentieth cup of the evening. His elder demon companion was slowly dropping to the table and Hakkai gave him another five to ten minutes before he passed out. It reminded him a little of Gojyo and he found a tiny, yet genuine, smile start creeping on his face. "I think maybe you've had enough, though?"

"Don't be stupid." Jeriche grinned and threw his head back with a laugh. "No way in hell I'm letting a young'in like you out drink me. No'on's out drank you my ass!"

"You sound like my friends when you do that." Hakkai chuckled as he watched the other man's face turn pink. "Can I ask where I should drop you off when you do pass out?"

"Smart ass." Jeriche hiccupped and nursed his beer for one more good swig. "Right here. I got a room upstairs and bar keep doesn't care if I pass out down here or not."

"How very convenient. I was afraid I'd have to carry you."

"Psh, like I'd let you."

"Hey! Jeriche!"

"What is it, Xiaowen?" Jeriche turned from his drinking companion to see the bartender waving at him. The man had a concerned look on his face and that never meant something good. "Something happen?"

"No, but it looks like it might." Xiaowen sighed and set a few glasses down before jumping the counter. Walking a few feet over to the two guests he leaned down next to the older gentleman's ears and lowered his voice. "Miao from the hotel just called. She said you can see a large group of demons heading into town from the back window."

"You don't say." The old man took a slow swig. "That can't be a good thing."

"Yeah, you might want to make yourself scarce for a while before things get nasty."

Jeriche smiled softly through his sigh. Xiaowen was a good boy, a touch of a pessimist, but a good boy. "I just might do that, thanks kiddo."

The barkeep rubbed the old demon's shoulder softly before standing up straight. Last time something like this happened Jeriche couldn't show his face for a few weeks. This was the last thing the old man needed right now. "No problem, though you might want to do the same, too."

Hakkai looked up from his drink as the young man addressed him as well. Remembering the claws on his hand he licked his lips a little and smiled. The night was looking so pleasant there for a moment. But all good things had to come to an end sooner or later. He could feel his headache returning, that ever obnoxious churning. "Thank-you for the warning, but I think I'll handle it myself."

"What are you talking about?"

Hakkai pushed himself up from the table and put some money on the table, enough to pay for both tabs, before smiling. "Do excuse me."

"Where are you going?" Jeriche tried to stand up after his new young companion but found himself being caught by Xiaowen when he swayed. Maybe he was drunker than he thought, but that other boy must be smashed if he was going to do what it looked like he was. "You're not going to confront them are you?"

"No worries, I can promise you that I will be the one who lives." Hakkai smiled and cracked his knuckles. He could feel the adrenaline pumping in his veins and it felt good. "I've been looking for something to release all this stress on anyway, so maybe it's for the better."

"Sir, it's not one or two." The younger man did his best to hold Jeriche up completely straight as he talked. If he wasn't scared the old guy would hit his head, he'd be walking over to stop the other guest. "No disrespect, but even if you are a demon you're going to have trouble taking on twenty or so other demons."

Hakkai chuckled to himself at the warning. He wondered what the other man would think if he knew that Hakkai was hoping for more than fifty. "No worries, I'm not out of my mind just yet. I practically do this for a living. Twenty or thirty is merely," Hakkai paused to think of a good word. "Practice, maybe?"

"Couldn't be." Jeriche tightened his grip unconsciously onto Xiaowen's arm. "You're not one of _them_ are you? Dear gods above what have you brought into this town?"

"I do apologize, but you are correct." Hakkai ran a hand through his hair. He had hoped to keep this little part of his identity a secret, but ah well. "I am indeed a member of the so called 'Sanzo Party' or maybe 'traitors' is a better way to put it?"

"Well I'll be damned." Jeriche laughed a little and pushed himself out of the poor bar keep's arms. He leant on the table instead. "Well, I guess something like this is a trifle for a guy like you, huh? My bad for doubting your skills."

"I can understand if things are a touch awkward at this point, but I do thank you for the company." Hakkai put his hand to the door and pushed as gently as possible. His fingers itched at the door for action. "It was nice, and I can honestly say it was better than I had originally expected."

"Aw, just git' out there." Jeriche plopped down into the chair next to him. "Maybe if you're fast no one in town'll notice anything happened."

"Have a good night, Mr. Jeriche, Mr. Xiaowen." Hakkai plastered a fake smile onto his face. At the young man's sudden hold of breath he imagined his face quite intimidating. Well, good. Hakkai had liquor in his system, a full moon over head, and a pounding headache that had returned full throttle at first mention of another damned attack. A little exercise would be good for him.

"Think he'll be okay?" Xiaowen whispered softly as he watched the young demon leave the pub.

"Physically? Sure." Jeriche sighed. "But that's all I'd put my money on if I were you."

"Why don't we get you to bed."

"Stop being such a damn mother, Xiaowen. I'm over ninety years your senior."

"Sure, sure. But you're drunk."

"So I am."

"And it's late."

"Not to late, not for you, and sure as hell not for me."

"Hmm."

"Get me another drink, Xiaowen."

* * *

The priest took in the scene before him and had to sigh. Placing his gun in his sleeve he cursed himself for taking the time to get the other idiots. He'd been too slow, too damn slow. All he could do was pull out a cigarette and curse to himself. "Damn'it."

"Well, if this doesn't look familiar." Gojyo had to cover his mouth from the smell of rotting corpses that littered the streets. Standing in the middle of the carnage, was a certain demon companion of theirs, once again covered head to toe in blood. From the looks of it, these guys got worse goings than that last time Hakkai fought on his lonesome. "Guess we were a little slow."

Goku swallowed as he stared at the sight with the others. Looking to his side he noticed that Hakkai had drawn the attention of some of the townsfolk as well. Not that he was surprised, they could hear the demons' screams from across town when they were heading out to confront them. He just wished they'd all go inside now before things got twitchy. "Looks like the whole town watched him."

Sanzo had a feeling in his gut that nothing good was going to come from this situation. Hakkai had single handedly taken out a mini-army of demons and kept them from hurting the town, but he doubted the village would see it that way. It might be in everyone's best interest to grab Hakkai and get out of town.

"Monster."

Sanzo watched as Hakkai's hands twitched at that soft proclamation. He cursed to himself and thought about shooting the person that lit the powder keg. The culprit happened to be that inn girl the demon had met earlier. He nearly flinched as Hakkai turned to look at her. His eyes looked dead inside, and Sanzo wondered just what could have gone through his mind during that fight. Sanzo prayed it wasn't what he thought it was, or they were all in way over their heads.

"Forgive me, but it was them or me." Hakkai stated simply. The bloodshed had calmed his racing heart slightly, but there was still a distinct pounding. It was almost like a little voice that told him to kill things. The thought of the Minus Wave brushed by but he shoved it away. He merely did what he always did: kill the demons. "Or to be more honest, them or the town."

"That I can understand." Miao breath was shuttering between her words. The images of that man tearing through those demons as if they were tissue paper couldn't leave her mind. There was so much blood. So much more than she'd ever seen any of the other demons shed. He was a _monster_. "I think, but it doesn't change how I feel or what I saw."

Hakkai's eyes widened as Miao turned away from him and walked slowly down the street. There was a slight sway to her step as she moved, probably from the emotional exhaustion. Hakkai couldn't find himself with the will to care, despite the tiny bit of shock. He didn't regret what he had done.

However.

He was not without exhaustion of his own. When he first confronted the inexperienced group of demons all was as usual, but as he tore each one down one after another, things changed. The blood on his claws, the senses filling his nose, the ecstasy of ripping the life out of their bodies was like lead on his heart. This weight that was settling down into his gut and his being was more than anything he had experienced before this damn thing had gotten started. Hakkai was positive that anything could be better than this frustration burning in his belly and he would never complain about his condition again.

This experiment needed to end. Now. "Sanzo."

The monk lifted his eyes slowly to the slightly shaking form standing next to him. As much as he hated to admit to himself, things might have gotten farther out of hand than he had initially intended. The crowds surrounding them seemed to be keeping their distance from the four of them. He doubted any of them were stupid enough to take Hakkai on after witnessing the ease in which he killed those other demons. Hakkai himself was looking shaky, but still seemed to be in one piece. That was a good thing at the very least, and what Sanzo was hoping for. "What is it, Hakkai?"

"Give me back my limiters."

"No."

The demon felt as if the other man had rammed a spike through his heart with that single piercing syllable. Hakkai tried desperately to keep his voice from cracking. "Please, give them back."

Nothing good would come from letting Hakkai duck out now. The man was about to break, and once he shattered into a thousand pieces he could put himself back together again. And only then. This Sanzo knew from experience. So the only thing he could do for his friend, was to keep jaw set firm and keep to his resolve. Closing the distance between the two of them to keep prying ears out, Sanzo came up to Hakkai's side. He had to have faith that Hakkai could do it. "They won't help you."

"Give them back."

"I can't do that. Not now, it would be nothing more than running away with your tail between your legs. You're better than this, Hakkai."

"How kind of you to look out for me." Hakkai's hand acted on it's own as his veins pulsed. His blood lust had yet to fully dissolve, and dear Lord Sanzo seemed to be volunteering his services. The man's throat felt good clenched in the palm of his hand. He tilted his head up to fully look at Sanzo's face as the man's hands shoved at his wrist. He tightened his grip enough to feel Sanzo's heart pulsing against his palm. It wasn't so soothing anymore. "Now if you please."

Sanzo found himself trying to force air down his windpipe under Hakkai's crushing grip. He hadn't even blinked and he found himself hanging a good foot off the ground. Just perfect. "Not a chance."

"Is this what they call 'tough love' or 'stupidity'?" Hakkai smirked and tightened his grip even farther. Little droplets of blood started pooling around the points of each claw tip. "You're going to stop breathing soon if you keep this up. And then there won't be enough oxygen in your brain for you to make the right decision. I would suggest behaving."

"Screw…" Sanzo had to gulp at the air and force it for that shaky breath. "You."

"I think you've already screwed me over quite well, thank-you." Hakkai squeezed even tighter. He wondered if he'd actually kill the man before him. Part of his brain was screaming at him to put Sanzo down and go hide in a corner. There was no way he'd ever be forgiven for this and he deserved to go drown himself. The other pounding half was currently winning with its screams of 'hurt him!' and it's drive to throw caution to the wind. All in all, he found himself surprisingly apathetic about the whole ordeal with these two extremes canceling each other out; it was a rather surreal sensation.

Sanzo wasn't the only one with trouble breathing at the moment. It was as if Goku's lungs a turned as traitorous as Gojyo's legs had been before. Watching Sanzo's feet kicking and the man struggling so hard he wanted to run and beat the shit out of who was hurting him, only. Only. It was _Hakkai_. Damn it all, why was this happening? "Hakkai! Put him down!"

Hakkai looked down at the grip that had encircled his free arm. Goku's fingers were sure to leave bruises, but he kept Sanzo aloft nonetheless. "I'm sorry Goku, but Sanzo and I are having a nice conversation. Would you mind kindly waiting for a moment?"

"Holy shit, Hakkai's lost his mind." Gojyo's eyes could have rivaled saucer plates. The water sprite may have wanted Hakkai to punch that stupid priest's block off a few times, but he sure as hell didn't want it to go this far. Not to mention hearing that overly polite tone being used while he was strangling someone was sending shivers down his spine. Gojyo swallowed hard himself before taking a few steps carefully toward Hakkai. He'd knock the man out if he had to. "Hey, buddy this is a bit much."

"Back the hell off. Both of you." All three sets of eyes turned the blonde struggling to speak through his crushed windpipes. Hakkai had loosened his grip enough from the distraction for the man to talk and it was a much welcome break. "This is between me and him so just stay out of it."

"Sanzo!" Goku shouted as Hakkai ripped his arm out from Goku's grip and pushed him back. The younger one was too concerned with Sanzo's glaring eyes to notice Hakkai's rejection of his request. "You can't be serious."

"Back off!" If Hakkai couldn't stop himself now, than he'd never be able to and everything would have been for nothing. Sanzo squirmed a little in the tight grip and ignored the drops of his own warm blood sliding down his back, probably staining his robes again. Those two idiots just didn't get it. If this was the damn minus wave, than Hakkai needed to beat it or there'd be no going back.

"It's a bit crowed here, let's take this elsewhere, shall we?" Hakkai smiled and dropped Sanzo's throat to punch him below the rips. The force was enough to knock the man out and have him it the ground with a dull thud. Thankfully the move was enough to shock both Gojyo and Goku into stillness. The perfect opportunity to take his fight somewhere private. It was about time he settled this matter anyway.

Goku cursed himself as he watched Hakkai grab Sanzo and essentially run. He wondered why his own legs refused to follow and he felt a little hollow inside. "Gojyo, did that just happen?"

"I think it did."

"Hakkai won't kill him, will he?"

Gojyo listened to that tiny voice coming out of Goku's mouth and he found himself praying to every god he'd met to date. "I have no idea."


	8. Chapter 8

Heh, it's been a while since I wrote something I was really happy with – and here it is! Yay! Anyway, we'll go ahead and dedicate this chapter to Nimblnymph because she had an exam and is awesome. :D And everyone should give tath-chan a big thank-you for one really long review that helped motivate me get my rear in gear. One chapter to go to wrap everything up and KF will be all done. Thanks so much for reading and reviewing!

**Chapter 8**

Goku's breathing was heavy as he took a break from running. Gojyo didn't seem to be in too good of shape either from all the searching they had been doing. They'd checked everywhere in town and most of the areas just around the village but Hakkai and Sanzo were no where to be found. It was like no one had even seen them leave or they were just too scared to say anything. Goku couldn't believe that in those few moments of shock from Hakkai attacking Sanzo that they could lose him so fast! It was frustrating and Goku was getting a really bad feeling developing in his gut about leaving Sanzo with Hakkai much longer.

"Damn it! When Hakkai doesn't want to be found, he really doesn't want to be found!" Gojyo growled and grabbed a cigarette. before taking a deep drag on the stick. His feet hurt from all the running and he was getting to the point where he wasn't sure if he cared or not what Hakkai and that Monk did. Though, that was more of a lie to himself than anything. "I hope he doesn't do anything stupid."

"I'm sure that he wouldn't..." Goku's words were slow and trailed off. It was obvious that he wasn't as sure as stated. The boy felt the tiny dragon come and land on his shoulder. Jeep nuzzled the boy's cheek in a reassurance that everything would be fine. "Yeah, you're right Jeep."

Gojyo plopped a hand on Goku's other shoulder no occupied with a dragon and rubbed. He felt better when Goku's shoulder loosened under his hold. "They'll both be fine; even Jeep thinks so. That monk's too stubborn to die and I already know Hakkai's not going to kill him."

"You think?"

"Actually, I'm more worried about Hakkai." Gojyo blew out a steady stream of smoke. That conversation they had shared about Hakkai killing himself before he'd hurt any of his friends kept sticking out in his mind. "I just hope 'hurt' was a euphemism for 'death'" Gojyo mumbled to himself.

"Huh? What do you mean?"

"Nothing monkey." Gojyo took in a deep breath and started running again. Either the monk was in trouble, he was going to be in trouble, or Hakkai was doing something stupid. Gojyo nearly laughed when he figured that it was probably a combination of all three."Come on! We've got a lot of ground to cover."

"Right!" Goku nodded and followed obediently. He was sure that Gojyo wasn't telling him something, but when was that ever new? He'd just have to find Sanzo and Hakkai and they'd be fine and Gojyo wouldn't have to worry about it. He hoped. Hakkai hadn't seemed too happy when they last saw him... "Where do you think we should look?"

"I was thinking in the woods." Gojyo muttered. "It's the only place we haven't scoured yet. I can't think of where else they'd be."

"That's a big forest , Gojyo."

"Why do we always end up looking for this guy in woods?" Gojyo laughed and held his hand over his eyes. "Isn't this how we met?"

"I'm not sure what's so funny over there! Sanzo's still in trouble, ya 'know."

"Shut up, Monkey. Keep running!"

"I'm running! I'm running! Stupid cockroach!"

"Don't call me a cockroach!"

"Cockroach!"

"Monkey!"

Jeep flew behind the two arguing friends with a little dragon sigh. He'd almost be better off looking for his Master and his friend on his own.

* * *

Everything hurt.

That single notion was the only thing running through Sanzo's mind as he lay flat on the ground. The little trails of blood that had clung to his neck were now dry and itchy, and the gravel of the ground was scraping against his cheek. Sanzo had no way of knowing how long he had been unconscious for, but he sure as hell remembered Hakkai decking him and that it would leave a mighty bruise. He could also take a guess that the demon was still lurking about, so it might be in his best interest to not move.

It didn't hurt that he could feel Hakkai's eyes boring into him even with his own eyes shut, either.

Sanzo was awake. Hakkai smirked a little to himself when he picked up on the subtle changing in breathing and heart rate. Though, it was slightly amusing to comprehend the man thought he could fool a demon with enhanced senses. Even if they were in the middle of the forest, he could still hear Sanzo's heartbeat as loud as a drum. Hakkai would humor him for the moment. As much as he hated to admit, sitting on a rotting log and having nothing else to do but watch a beaten body for a few hours set the numbing sensation of guilt into full force.

Not that he regretted what he had done, no. Guilt and regret were not the same thing, and Hakkai could live with guilt. He meant what he had said before and he would repeat it just the same when the man lying next to him decided to 'wake up.' Hakkai looked up as a bird flew out of the bush next to him. He caught it as it passed him with ease; plucked it from the air like he was picking a plump peach. Such a tiny, little thing; it seemed Hakkai had hurt it a little with the force. Yet, watching the thing squirm was rather amusing in its own right.

"Having fun?"

"I see you've decided to announce your presence. Good morning, Sanzo." Hakkai spoke without even looking up. He didn't need, too. He had already known the man was awake. The bird chirped in it's distress. It was annoying. Hakkai wondered if he could cut its vocal chord without killing it.

"Yeah, good morning to you, too." Hakkai was far too calm as he stared at the struggling bird. It was wriggling and squirming in a frenzied fashion, but the demon's hands remained still and tight. At least it was keeping the demon's attention away from him at the moment. Sanzo braced himself for the worse, but noticed immediately that there was a heavy weight missing. When he reached his hand to where it should have been, Sanzo was interrupted in his search by a mocking voice.

"I'm not stupid enough to let you keep your gun."

"I should have figured as much."

"Now, shall we get straight to business?" Hakkai never let go of the bird.

Sanzo watched as Hakkai played with the feathers, lifting one or two and letting them fall down with his thumb. "Such as?"

"Do try not to play dumb, Sanzo."

"Who's playing? I'm not giving them back."

Hakkai sighed and plucked a feather from the bird. It was the same color yellow as Sanzo's hair, how utterly droll. "Could you possibly explain why that is, again? You weren't very clear before."

"You were also choking me, before."

"Didn't stop you from yelling at Goku."

Sanzo slowly pushed himself up off of the ground to sit upright. He kept his eyes trained on the demon sitting next to him and the feathers that were slowly making their way to the ground. "You're fine without them."

"Sanzo, I'm slowly tearing apart a bird and I nearly killed you without a second thought." Hakkai placed his hand over the bird and held it in the cup that his hands formed. Its heart was fluttering so hard he could feel it through his hands. "And you think I'm fine."

"You're well enough to know those actions are wrong, don't you?"

"Fair enough, but I would like my limiters back now." Hakkai turned his head towards his companion and frowned. "I want this headache to go away."

Sanzo snorted as he leant back into the stump that his companion was sitting on. Though, to be honest, something else was bugging him. Hakkai usually wasn't this careless. "I'm surprised you just didn't take your limiters back when you took my gun."

"It would have defeated the purpose."

"So this is a pride issue." Sanzo snorted and checked his sleeves for his cigarettes and lighter. When he noticed they were also absent, he looked up to see a smirk on Hakkai's face. Even if Hakkai wasn't looking at him, it was there. Bastard. "Should have figured it would be something stupid."

"Why must you be so stubborn?"

"Why won't you just get a grip on yourself. You're acting like a child."

Hakkai crushed the bird in a sudden clap. For once, the blood dripping through his hands smelled good. The demon found himself chuckling and his hands trembling. It wasn't enough. "Is that so?"

"Things have changed from when this first started."

"Really now?" Hakkai opened his hands and stared at the broken body smothered in its own blood. It was a sight that was becoming more and more familiar as time passed. He tried to feel sorry for the bird or any form of regret. It wasn't there.

"I hadn't anticipated the Minus wave affecting you." Sanzo tensed and made himself ready just in case. Hakkai's breathing had picked up and Sanzo doubted he held his cool for much longer. Sanzo kept his eyes trained on the dripping blood on the ground. "And now that it's here, I think you've got a good chance of beating it for good. So no, I'm not giving them back."

Hakkai stood up and dropped the bird letting it land with a soft thud. His headache was back and now his toy was useless. Such a waste. "And that's it? And how long will that take? A day? A month? Year? Lifetime? Do tell me Sanzo just how long you intend to keep this insanity going."

Sanzo stayed where he was on the ground. Challenging a crazed man's authority was not a good way to keep civil conversation. But that didn't mean he was backing down. "I have a feeling it's going to get settled today."

"Whether or not I kill you? Is that it then?" Hakkai turned on a sudden whim and kicked Sanzo square in the chest. The impact forced the man onto his back with a much louder _thud_ than the small bird had produced. The shocked look on his face made Hakkai's heart beat faster in anticipation and he forced Sanzo to let out a second 'oumph!' when he straddled the man's waist and held Sanzo's wrists on either side of his face. Those violet eyes widened and Hakkai smiled. "You still smell good, by the way. Just," Hakkai licked his lips revealing his rather nasty set of sharp fangs. "Not in the same way as before."

* * *

"Where the hell are those morons?" Gojyo shouted and slammed his foot into a tree. "They are really starting to piss me off!"

Goku didn't want to admit it, but he agreed with the water sprite. This was really getting ridiculous! "I can't smell them anywhere. No blood, no Sanzo, no nothing."

Gojyo rolled his eyes and slapped his forehead. Jeep was circling the air above them and chirping. The little rat couldn't find them either and he was really starting to get pissed off! If those two weren't hurt when they found them, they were going to be when Gojyo was done with him. To hell with it! Even if they were bleeding and dying Gojyo was still going to kick them around for all this hassle. "Shit. This sucks, but at least the no blood thing should be a good sign." _Because I want to beat them up myself._ Gojyo added silently in his head.

Goku huffed and stomped his foot. "I guess, but we still don't know where they are!"

"Come on, let's keep looking. They've got to be in this forest somewhere. I doubt that they're in the village."

"Because we searched ever nook and cranny." Goku looked at the tall trees around him and listened to all the noise. It all seemed too normal for what was surely a fight between Sanzo and Hakkai. The animals should be restless or something. "Don't you think it's too noisy?"

"What do you mean?"

"The forest. If Hakkai's here and him and Sanzo are 'talking' than shouldn't the animals and stuff be running or quiet or something?"

"You mean the still before the storm type of thing?"

"Yeah."

The red-head muttered something around his cigarette. Sometimes he could have sworn that Goku was a dog or something with that crazy hearing and nose of his. "I think you're crazy and the monk's probably still unconscious. Hakkai whacked him one good."

"Maybe." Goku pouted and looked around. One particular area of the forest seemed much quieter than the others. "Gojyo, I'm going to go this way and look and Jeep'll fly above like he's been doing. You go that way and we'll meet up later if we find something."

"Sounds like a plan." The water sprite nodded and started running in the opposite direction. At least the monkey seemed to be onto something to be changing subjects so quick and running off. Gojyo just hoped that if he found the monk first that he'd be in one piece.

* * *

Sanzo kept his face straight and kept his eyes trained on Hakkai's. "You're not going to eat me. Just stop it, Hakkai."

Hakkai leaned down to where his face was close to Sanzo's. He could feel the man's breath on his face and he was fairly certain Sanzo could feel his own pounding breath. "And how can you be so sure of that?"

"Because I'd taste horrible, idiot."

Hakkai started laughing. Random, inexplicable belly laughter that forced Hakkai to release Sanzo's hands so he could wrap them around his own waist to control the shuddering force. He shoved his face into Sanzo's chest to stifle and smother the guffawing that was coming from his mouth. It failed. And so Hakkai sat: straddling a monk's waist, bent over and laughing like a fool because of one straight-faced spoken phrase.

Sanzo rolled his eyes at the antics of his hysterical comrade. With his now free arms, he shoved at the man's shoulders with one while leaning up on the other. The man barely budged from the push and merely kept laughing. "If you're done, could you get off?"

"Give me..." Hakkai took in a deep breath, looked at Sanzo's face and shuddered before chuckling again. "Another minute."

"You're heavy."

"Deal with it." Hakkai's breathing slowed down steadily and he kept his face where it was nuzzled in Sanzo's robes. He could hear Sanzo's heart beating. It was nice to listen to and lulled his headache. Maybe he'd just stay here for a moment. It was funny how fast his anger had flitted away in that single moment. The sober feeling that was washing over his senses led him to close his eyes and nuzzle the source of that glorious, soothing sound like a cat.

Sanzo was amazed at how young Hakkai looked in that moment. Not that they were old by any means, but they weren't exactly adults either. And right now, Hakkai looked like a kid taking a nap. Sanzo found himself petting the man's head and being thankful that he was no longer in such a tenuous state. "Better now?"

"I hate feeling like this."

"Like what?"

"Like I want to kill things and rip them apart." Hakkai gripped his claws into Sanzo's robes and refused to look at the man. He felt foolish and embarrassed. "I loved it. Ever since my limiters disappeared, I've adored ripping things apart. And I want to keep doing it. I want this feeling to stop before I hate myself all over again."

Sanzo snorted and knocked the man in the back of the head with his knuckles as hard as he could. When Hakkai grabbed his head and growled at him, Sanzo laughed out a huff and pushed himself up on both of his elbows. "Moron."

"What was that for?" Hakkai rubbed at his head. They were having a morose moment and Sanzo decides to whack him in the head. There was something wrong with that man, and Hakkai wasn't quite sure what it was. But it was probably on an equal level of insanity that he himself faced.

"You deserved it. You're heavy." Sanzo rolled his eyes. "And you're an idiot."

"What are you talking about?"

"Hakkai, you've had a blood lust a hell of a lot longer than you've been a demon." Sanzo rolled his eyes. "Idiot, and here I thought it really was the minus wave. Shit, I need a cigarette."

"Ah." Hakkai stuttered and could feel his face forming into his 'I'm angry and indignant' smile. How dare he! "What exactly do you mean by that?"

"Hakkai, you murdered over 1,200 humans and demons with a single knife while you were human." Sanzo narrowed his eyes as the demon's mouth hung open. Hakkai looked like he wanted to say something in his defense, but Sanzo beat him to the punch. "Even if it was for revenge, that's _a lot._ That sort of blood lust doesn't show up over night because you 'snapped.' Not to mention you're a masochist. How the hell is this shit you've been doing as a demon any different than that? You're still the same blood loving bastard you were before only now you've got fangs to match your bite."

"Why, I." Hakkai paused and frowned. He continued to stutter as Sanzo stared him down. Coming up with something to justify his past actions shouldn't be this difficult. "That's absurd. Then what about before! I was fine with the limiters."

"Placebo effect." Sanzo smirked. "You finally have an excuse to let loose without having to worry." Sanzo shrugged and licked his dry lips; he really wanted a cigarette. "It's fine to kill things like that if you can blame it on the limiters. Then again, that's probably what's been bothering you, too. Seems you just needed to get it out of your system."

Hakkai shoved a pointed finger to poke at Sanzo's chest. The man was so cheeky thinking he knew everything. "And if I admit that's the case, which I'm sure that it isn't, than you'll give me my limiters back then?"

"No."

"You're such a bastard!" Hakkai laughed. He wasn't sure why he was laughing while trying to curse out the man beneath him, but he was. And the headache was gone completely. Maybe he just really needed a good laugh. Or something. Whatever the case, it seems things were back to normal as if noting had happened. Hakkai smiled inwardly; all that meant was how deep their friendship ran. And that, Hakkai appreciated. "Though, I rather doubt that the Minus wave was completely blameless."

Sanzo huffed. "You can think that if you want."

"But seriously, Sanzo." Hakkai crossed his arms. "This whole demon senses thing is driving me crazy. And I'd like to walk through town without being stared at."

Sanzo rolled his eyes. "I'll think about it since you're being such a good boy."

"Maybe I should just kill you."

"Yeah right." Sanzo shoved at the man's chest. He was about to retort something witty about weight and Hakkai in an attempt to get the man off of his lap, but he was beaten to the punch.

"You know, I never thought I'd find you guys first." Gojyo stared at the two men in front of him. Hakkai was looking at him with a curious expression and a blush that seemed out of place. And Sanzo was on the ground. Beneath Hakkai. Specifically in between a blushing Hakkai's legs. Well, well, well. Gojyo took a really long draw of nicotine from his beloved Hi-Lite. "I also never thought I'd be disappointed that you two weren't trying to kill each other. What the _hell_ are you two doing?"

"Ah, Gojyo." Hakkai put his hands up in front of him and coughed. "This isn't what it appears to be."

"It looks like you jumped the monk."

"Ah, well." Hakkai could feel his face flushing. They must be quite the sight to have Gojyo grinning like the Cheshire Cat. He also wondered why he hadn't scrambled out of Sanzo's lap yet to attempt and remedy the situation. "Not quite."

Sanzo shifted his weight to lean on one arm and frown menacingly at the water sprite. "He tried to eat me."

"Oh I bet he did." Gojyo couldn't help the smirk. He'd get the full story out of Hakkai later, but for right now he was amused. And disturbed. But mostly amused.

"Hakkai, give me my gun." Sanzo pushed the distracted man hard using noted distraction to his advantage. "And I said to get off!"

Gojyo laughed as the demon sprawled out onto the ground next to the monk. Seemed someone was back to his usual grouchy self. "At least you two are okay. That'll make the monkey happy at least."

"I'm sure it will." Hakkai reached down to grab Sanzo's hand after he stood up himself. Hakkai brushed the dirt off of his knees after pulling the monk to his feet. Sanzo made the motions of heading for his cigarettes and cursed when he remembered yet again that they were not there. "Where is Goku?"

"Off looking somewhere." Gojyo shrugged. "I guess he went in the wrong direction."

"I sure did!" Goku shouted as he bust through a bush. Jeep followed close behind him chirping happily. "I didn't find anything but a demon camp. Took me forever to get rid of them. At least that explains why that area of the forest was so quiet."

"I'm surprised that Hakkai didn't notice that. You'd think he would have heard the ruckus." Sanzo turned and grinned at his demon friend. "With those enhanced senses and all."

"I was preoccupied." Hakkai smiled. "You just demanded all of my attention."

"Bastard." Sanzo walked over to the stump where Hakkai was sitting and looked around. After lifted a broken piece of the wood, he located his gun and cigarettes. He went for the cigarettes first and thanked every Buddha and Bodhisattva (save for one) that he knew for nicotine. "Let's go back and get our things and eat. I'm starving."

"I as well," Hakkai chuckled and held his elbows. Letting everything out of your system really was a help in improving his mood. He smiled sweetly at Sanzo. "I was denied dinner after all."

Sanzo frowned at that smirking demon-ass face. Fangs, slit pupils or not – it was still that same infuriating bad personality smile that Hakkai always had. "Shut up."

Goku blinked as the Hakkai and Sanzo continued to tease each other in a friendly manner. You'd never know that one of them was trying to kill the other one a day ago. "Did I miss something?"

Gojyo looked down at the confused boy and had to admit that he was pretty confused too. "I think we did."

"Oh well." Goku shrugged. The growl that came from his stomach decided for him that it was best left alone and that there were more important things to attend to. "I want meat buns, Hakkai! Can we get some! Please? Please?"

The demon turned from his playful conversation with Sanzo to the hungry looking boy. "Yes, that does sound good, doesn't it?"

"Then lets get the hell out of here." Sanzo started walking off towards the town. Lighting the cigarette now hanging from his mouth, Sanzo was also inwardly happy that this whole mess was settled so easily. That little bond they all shared came in handy for dispelling fights in a heartbeat. Not that this monk would ever admit that it was there. He blew smoke from his lips and turned back to his three demons. "And keep your stupidity levels to a minimum for a change."

"Yes, of course, Sanzo." Hakkai hummed to himself and started to follow their leader while Goku blabbered on about the food he was going to eat. Gojyo was shaking his head and giving him the 'you're telling me everything later' look that Hakkai was learning to recognize more often. Though, there was one thing left to settle. Hakkai picked up his pace until he was walking in pace with Sanzo. His voice was low when he started talking, just because it would be best not to worry the others. "Sanzo, I..."

"Apologies count as stupidity when there's nothing to apologize for."

"Ah." Hakkai blinked and chuckled. "Of course. Well then."

"You're all idiots."

"Hey! We can hear you back ya' know!" Gojyo shouted and kicked Sanzo in the rear. He'd been waiting to do that for ever and damn did it feel good. Totally worth it.

"You're dead!" Sanzo started firing on his so-called companion and enjoyed every minute of it. He could hear the monkey laughing manically in the background as the water sprite dodged.

During this entire ordeal, Hakkai took Jeep in his arms and pet the little white dragon. He had the biggest genuine smile on his face for the first time in what felt like forever. There was something comforting about knowing everyone in his family was as screwed up as he was. And that made everything all right for some reason. "Do try not to kill him, Sanzo. We need him to carry things."

"Traitor!" Gojyo shouted as he ducked. Though, he could feel himself laughing right along with the rest of them. Hell, even the monk had a smile on his face.

It was just another day.


	9. Epilogue

And she's all finished! This was supposed to be a chapter and an epilogue, but I could only come up with four pages worth of writing...so it turned into one long epilogue. Anyway, I had a lot of fun with this one and I hope you all enjoyed it! Thanks for reading, reviewing, and just being the awesome folks you are!

**Epilogue**

"Miao! Don't forget to count your till tonight!"

"Don't worry sir! I won't!" Miao shouted back to the manager as she started to wipe the counter clean. Things had calmed down considerably since the demon attack and most of the men were cleaning the main street. Though, Miao still had guests to maintain and care for so she didn't have long to sulk over the horrors she had witnessed before. Guests couldn't care less what a bad day the staff was having so Miao had learned to adjust. When the front door bell rang she looked up to see the four familiar fellows from earlier walking back into the hotel. But something was very different this time – that demon was smiling.

And not just a fake smile either, it was a genuine pleasant smile from something his friends said. Miao couldn't help but stare at him and that gorgeous face lit up with laughter. When he wasn't covered in blood, frowning or otherwise looking frightening; he was downright handsome. Even for a demon. Miao found herself blushing when he looked over in her direction and started walking towards her. She fumbled with her cleaning rag and choked out a 'hello, sir.'

"Hello again, Ms. Miao." Hakkai chuckled as she wrung the rag nervously. Though her pulse was raised and she was shaking - she wasn't scared of him. Granted, that could be a bad thing as well; Gojyo would be jealous and that would be just his luck. Hakkai tried to keep his smile going pleasantly before he started outright chuckling. "I must apologize for my behavior earlier. It was most rude and I do believe I frightened you."

Miao was speechless; how could this be the same man she met earlier? If it was possible for her face to turn any redder; than it did. "Oh, no. I was out of line myself. So please accept my apologies."

Gojyo growled to the monk and lit his cigarette while Hakkai chatted it up with the inn staff. It just wasn't fair! "How does he do that? He's got friggin' fangs and she's falling all over him!"

"He's polite, well tempered and has a nice smile?" Sanzo shrugged and pulled out a cigarette of his own. It wasn't any of his business if Hakkai was good with the ladies and the cockroach wasn't. Things were back to normal and Sanzo was still annoyed by his traveling companions. Normal. The monk almost missed having Hakkai going psycho. "Hey! Enough over there."

"Yeah Hakkai! I'm hungry!" Goku whined and pulled at his shirt incessantly. He was happy Hakkai and that Miao were getting along now – but food was more important! And he knew that this kitchen made some of the best meat buns. He could smell them and it was driving him crazy! How could anyone think about girls when such delicious scents were attacking your nose? "Come on!"

The demon chuckled as Goku started pull at Sanzo's sleeve and begging for food. The monk looked ready for the kill and Hakkai had never felt so at home. He nodded at their hostess for the evening and decided to save Goku a smack on the head. "Excuse me, Ms. Miao. But if we don't feed him I'm sure that the consequences will be dire."

Miao tried to smile politely; but between the handsome demon and his friends it was difficult to concentrate. She was still having a hard time believing this was the same man as earlier; but she wasn't about to complain about the change either. "Ah yes, there's a good bar down the street run by a friend of mine that has great stew. You should definitely check it out before you leave town."

"Would that be Mr. Xiaowen?"

"Yes." Miao nodded with a smile. "Have you met?"

"Ah, yes. Mr. Jeriche introduced us."

"Oh, so you have met Jeriche."

"We shared a drink or two, it was quite pleasant."

"Hey! Love birds!" Gojyo shouted and started banging a wall with his free hand. Those two were giving no sign of stopping the polite shit. And hell if he hated to admit, he was as hungry as the monkey from all that looking and runnin' around for that bastard. "Food!"

"Forgive my companion. I will take you up on that advice, thanks." Hakkai gave a quick nod before trotting back to his friends. He shook his head in Gojyo's direction and muttered a "Really, Gojyo."

"Don't give me that look. We're hungry and you're not doing anything but flirting lately." Gojyo smirked as Hakkai glared. Wasn't so scary anymore; good. He poked his friend in the shoulder for emphasis when he continued to glare.

"No less than you, Gojyo." Hakkai grinned and found himself showing teeth. It felt good; surprisingly enough. He'd have to do it more often. "I just think you're jealous."

"Jealous my ass."

"Green is more my color, Gojyo."

"Both of you shut the hell up." Sanzo snorted and gripped his fan inside of his sleeve. He was tempted to whack the both of them for fooling around when they could all be eating. Heaven forbid that _he_ actually be hungry for a change. "Are we going to this bar or not?"

Hakkai continued to chuckle as Gojyo fumed in the corner; his antennae were twitching. "Ah, yes of course."

"YAY!" Goku cheered triumphantly as they all turned right back around and headed out the door towards glorious, glorious food.

* * *

"Xiaowen!" Jeriche shouted. "I don't care what you said, I'm coming downstairs." The old demon huffed as he opened his door. He had watched the chaos from his window and Xiaowen went all mother hen on him and made him stay in his room to keep from trouble. One would never know that kid was in his early twenties with the way he fussed around every which way. Well, it'd been a few hours and his room was stuffy. Plus, he wanted a drink. He had age advantage! That young wipper-snapper wasn't keeping this geezer away.

Xiaowen sighed as he cleaned bar glasses with a blue dish rag. He should have known that old man wasn't going to stay put, but it might be alright. Half the town was still tense, but most of them knew Jeriche well enough. He hoped they did anyway; Xiaowen wasn't looking forward to defending Jeriche when he got into a mood. As he listened for the old man's footsteps down the stairs, he noticed the bell above the door give a jingle. He braced himself for the new customers and hoped that Jeriche behaved himself for company.

"Ah, excuse us." Hakkai gave a tiny wave as they entered the door. He could see Xiaowen behind the bar counter and assumed that Jeriche must be upstairs still. "You are still open, are you not?"

"Yeah." Xiaowen nodded towards the new guest as he entered with three other guys behind him. He was surprised to say the least; he hadn't been expecting to see that young demon again. "Can I help you?"

"Miao informed us that you make a marvelous stew here. I was wondering if we could have around twenty bowls of it?" Hakkai smiled at the young man absently cleaning glasses while giving him the oddest look.

"Twenty?"

"Twenty."

"Oh get off it, Xiaowen! Give the boy twenty; he's earned it." Jeriche laughed as he stomped down the stairs with a laugh. All the other bar patrons were staring at them; but that was just fine. They weren't hurting anyone. He slapped the young demon on the back and rubbed his nose with a grin. "You boys caused quite the ruckus last night."

"So we did. I do apologize."

Sanzo rolled his eyes as Hakkai went off into polite land with what looked to be an acquaintance of his. Seemed Hakkai was making demon friends; good for him. "This is nice and all, but can we sit down?"

"Ah, of course Sanzo." Hakkai pushed them all back to a table in the corner where he and Jeriche had their drinks earlier.

The older demon sat down next to the pissy looking blonde and held in the snicker as the man huffed and lit a cigarette. He licked his lips and turned to Hakkai with a sly smile. "So what have you fellas been up to in the past day or two?"

"Quite a bit, actually." Hakkai chuckled and put a hand to Goku's shoulder as the boy cheered and jumped at the bowls of stew placed on the table.

Dinner went by quickly and slowly at the same time. Xiaowen was stacking chairs on the other side of the room while the Sanzo party and guest relaxed in their seats; the youngest licking the bowls. Xiaowen took it as a compliment that the boy liked his soup. They had been chatting about something avidly and he couldn't quite tell, but it seemed as though Hakkai wanted something from the blonde man. It was fun actually watching those two bicker with each other with Jeriche stuck in the middle. Served him right for always sticking his nose into other people's business.

Hakkai knelt his head into his hands as he looked at the priest. He'd been arguing his case for some time now and it looked like it was finally about to pay off. He loved pushing Sanzo to the edge. "Sanzo, I really must insist that you give them back."

"Alright already! I'll give them back." Sanzo huffed and slammed his hands onto the table as the demon smiled at him with that complacent smirk. _Bastard._

Hakkai was happy that this whole mess was finally going to be over and done with as he watched Sanzo rummage through his sleeves for his limiters. Though, after five minutes of Sanzo's hands searching in his robes, Hakkai was starting to become concerned. "Is there a problem?"

Sanzo slowly took his hands out of his sleeves and drew out a cigarette with them. He lit the cigarette and blew out a puff of smoke while his friends stared at him. He was very interested in the way the smoke curled in the air; it was interesting and made art in the air. Sanzo was certainly not avoiding eye contact with his table mates and ignoring them. Never.

"Well?" Hakkai looked hopeful while digging little streaks into the table with his claws. "Sanzo?"

"I lost them."

* * *

Sanzo held the piece of meat to his black eye and sulked in the passenger seat of the Jeep. He chose to ignore Goku drooling over his slab of beef from the back while Gojyo snickered. If Sanzo's pride wasn't so damaged already, he'd shoot the water sprite in the nuts. Hakkai, in the meantime, was smiling and looked delightfully stress free. Good for him; it wasn't Sanzo's fault the man's limiters were so freakin' tiny!

"Do stop pouting, Sanzo. The swelling's gone down a little, at least." Hakkai bit his lip into his mouth to stop the smile. Seeing Sanzo pout like a child was far too much fun; though he really should apologize about decking him.

"Don't even start."

"Aww, did the widdle priest hurt his eye?" Gojyo leaned over the front of the seat and grinned. Watching Hakkai lay Sanzo flat on his back in a bar made his millennium. He could die a happy pervert.

Sanzo shoved the meat into Gojyo's face and slammed his head into the seat. The red-head moaned and gripped his hair as he tried to pry the meat from his face. "Aww, did the little demon break his head?"

Goku laughed out loud and slapped the back of Sanzo's car seat repeatedly. "Ha ha! Stupid water sprite!"

"Shut it monkey!"

"You shut up!"

"Oh dear Buddha." Sanzo slumped into his seat. "I don't need this."

"Attention Sanzo Party! Prepare to meet your doom!"

"I don't need that either." Sanzo moaned as he dug his hands into his eyes. The bruise still hurt but that was okay. Pain was good. Though, he did finally look up to see the young red-headed demon child that had just landed on their Jeep. She was doing an action pose. "Lirin."

"Hey Baldy Sanzo!" Lirin leant over the windshield and looked closely at his face. His purple eye on the one side looked bigger than usual. Upon closer inspection, she discovered why. "What's with the shiner? It's as big as a watermelon..."

"Lady Lirin!" Yaone called as she ran over. One of these days she was going to put a leash on that princess and strap her down to a table laced with itching powder. One escape attempt and she'd be scratching for months! Yes, months of torment that would disable her from running away and finding that god damned Sanzo party...Yaone calmed herself and prepared to calmly take Lirin away without any trouble. "Please, we need to go back to the castle...Mr. Hakkai? Is that you?"

"Ah, Yaone! Just the demon I wanted to see."

The female demon was still in shock staring at Hakkai. She had never seen him in demon form before and he was making her blush. She yanked Lady Lirin off the car absently as those mismatched green eyes held her utmost attention. "Uh, yes?"

* * *

Well, it wasn't a set of ear clips, but the bracelet would just have to do until Sanzo provided a more masculine substitute. "Wasn't that kind of Yaone to give me a limiter, Sanzo?"

"Stop chuckling and keep driving." Sanzo took this time to sink as far down into the seat as he could go and close his eyes and meditate. Goku had the right idea; sleep was a good way to get away from idiots.

Gojyo spent the rest of his time muttering something about unfair green eyed pretty boys that get all the ladies. And Hakkai, well he mused that the next time he has an emotional break down he'd just punch Sanzo. That seemed to work the best out of everything over the past month. Hakkai turned to look at the sleeping priest who had given him a new life (twice now) and smiled a bit.

Yes, he'd definitely punch him. That's what friends were for, after all.


End file.
